MURDER, SHE WROTE: THE CELTIC RIDDLE (2003) **1/2 Jessica Fletcher (if anyone ever casts anyone besides Angela Lansbury for the role, like they do to James Bond, prison sentences should follow for all involved) is off to Ireland this time, to solve a trinity of murder. Well, that's interesting already, as anyone who's never been there knows that Ireland means beautiful locations, warm and glorious pubs choc full o' tap dancing lasses with long legs and big hair, drunken louts in black leather jackets, megaviolence, Catholics, and leprechauns. They decided against going with leprechauns, but compensate with a cemetery full of Celtic crosses spooky enough for even Scooby-Doo. Sadly, the actors aren't as intriguing as Jessica's usual faire of discarded nearly-stars, but that's also compensated, with a winning performance from Sarah-Jane Potts, and a script focusing on where pagan lore and the counterculture elements of the environmental movement converge. Interesting, but they don't say much about it...but do they say much about anything else? I'm not sure. From what's got out about freemasonry, we're led to believe that the holiest shrine in freemasonry is Roslyn Chapel, where the Holy Grail may be buried. Jessica is bequeathed Rose Cottage, where...well there should be some surprises and secrets, shouldn't there, and I figured out whodunnit, literally, less than ten minutes into the film. Well, Roslyn Chapel's in Scotland, and Angela's in Ireland....Scotland and Ireland are different, aren't they?! Well, yes, but...that division is kind of one of those things empires imposed on tribes, like India and the Congo. It's all one tribe isn't it: the Celts. "The Celtic Riddle," get it? Whether Jessica is trying to tell us something, or just wandered into a script written by someone who is, is open to further speculation. Beyond that, I don't detect much being said anyway, but I'm not among the initiated. Angela's on fine form, as always. Anthony Pullen Shaw's shot of her hitchhiking is actually eerie.
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