donald sutherland and an american paleontologist visit england and pick up a hitch hiker one evening . two year later and have discover the man address book in his car and he return the book to the man opulent home and only to find that the man be hang for murder . nobody in or out of the family seem to care that the hitch hiker could not have commit the murder ( of his own stepmother ) because he be in sutherland car at the time of the crime . sutherland be the man alibi but he turn up too late . out of a sense of guilt and he track down the real murderer . agatha christie mystery usually involve a number of diverse people and all of them with one or another motive for the crime and all of them suspect and and a puzzle that depend on the construction of a strict time line . there be often and not always and a sidekick with whom the investigator can talk thing over . because of the anfractuosity of the situation and due care must be take to explain each element of the mystery to the reader or viewer . redundancy be perfectly okay . we have to keep the character and the time line straight . christie movie be of the rare kind in which the use of famous face in subordinate character be actually useful . ( jacqueline de bellefort . oh and yes and that mia farrow . ) but this version of ordeal by innocence be a golan globus production and with all that imply in the way of production value and a thoughtfully prepared script and and skill behind the camera . the first few minute and in which sutherland discovers that an innocent man have be hang and be fine . after that and everything be fling at the viewer in disjointed scrap and often in sudden flashback or in confuse voiceovers that tell u nothing . the script have a slapdash quality and a if throw together by two hack overnight . few of the face be familiar and that doesn not help at all . everyone drop remark about everyone else and the name become a hopeless jumble . the musical score consist of four instrument do irritate atonal jazz riff . some nudity be throw in to wake up the dozer in the audience . if dame agatha be alive and she would be among the viewer who need to be shake awake . dullsville .