The Beautiful Lie

Allegedly a re-working of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, The Beautiful Lie has a great ambition. Some of the script, parts of the acting and occasional moments achieve something really worthwhile, but as a whole it isn't satisfying or believable.

More than that, none of the characters really engages us as viewers, so we may want to find out who ends up with whom, and why, but we don't get the sense that any of them are real.

The contrast with Tolstoy is vast: his moral and psychological vision was profound and engaging, whereas The Beautiful Lie takes us into a world of mostly trivia and lust, disguised as love.

I suspect this was a 6-part series that got extended. That makes it even less likely to retain our attention.

I am very much enjoying this mini series. I have never read or seen Anna Karenina so I am not comparing it to that. I see this as a very realistic, and rather stylish and moody take on cheating and sudden attraction. Then chronicling the destruction and fall out which follows. I feel like they have not made it look pretty or fun or easy either. Everyone has been dramatically affected by the main characters choice to embark on an affair. The obvious people like her husband and little boy, but also the people all around her that she hurt. She cries in episode 5, I have lost my family, meaning all the extra people who form our families, not just her blood family and ex. Skeet, the man she cheats with, is interesting to me. I like the actor and I have never seen him before. What I found so interesting is how she meets his mother on a plane ride just before she meets him and the Mother clearly tells her how Skeet never stays with women. He moves on and loses interest quickly. It was like she got this very intimate run down on the guy from his Mom, but her sexual attraction blitzed her brain. I found the side story of the insecure young women who was engaged to Skeet and then finds love after, and the alcoholic brother and his brother moving and well done. There is one episode left and I have no idea how this is all going to turn out, but I am looking forward to it.

One of the key lines of the series.. "with Skeet I feel like a starving person who's been given food... and with Xander I think I've married an abacus". Anna discovers and is completely consumed by unbridled sex. And finds herself incapable/ unwilling of making the sacrifice to abandon it.. and what comes next permanently locks her in, and ultimately determines her fate. You must watch it more than once to truly discover how remarkable a production it really is. This is one of the great new relationship series you will come across, and Sarah Snook's portrayal of Anna is beyond just good, she is absolutely mesmerizing. By far, her most outstanding work to date.. and it is her performance that drives this series, and makes it well worth the time spent watching. I think she is just an amazing actor.. ever since seeing her in 'Not Suitable For Children'. If you have not seen this wonderful little film, be sure and search it out, it is by far one of the best of the recent rom-com genre. There's little doubt, she's one of the top acting talents out there today. The Beautiful Lie is another well produced AU drama. The Australians just seem to be able to crank them out with such ease.. wish we could do as well here in this country. This is an easy 10 rating, and would go higher if possible.. don't dare miss it.

I wasn't 100% sure about this show, being a huge fan of Tolstoy, so I was pleasantly surprised at the drama and the consistency with the storyline of Anna Karenina. The casting was superb, and the setting was surprisingly consistent.

Sarah Snook as Anna was an amazing casting choice. Her portrayal was perfect, beginning to end. She played out the snowball of drama that came about from that initial decision in such a meticulous way, drawing it out and making me (i.e. the viewer) feel the heart-wrenching conclusion to this classical story in a surprisingly new way.

The other noteworthy casting choices: Sophie Lowe as Kitty (that melodramatic, super-clingy and naive little girl who transitions into a mature, considerate woman); Daniel Henshall and Celia Pacquola as Kingsley and Dollly; and Alexander England as Peter.

If you want to experience Tolstoy in a new and unexpected way, give this series a try. (It's also incredibly easy to binge-watch.)

I am not really sure how true to the famous novel this telling is. I have never read the book. Viewing this with no pre conceived notions I find it very enjoyable. The main characters are very appealing visually and you can't help connecting emotionally. Kitty and Anna are both beautiful in totally different ways and both flawed and frustrating in different ways as well. At times I found myself rooting for each of them and other times wishing to shake them for their self centerness and foolishness. Either way they are compulsively watchable, light up the screen. These two actresses will go far I am sure. Overall it is a very talented cast. All of the supporting cast turn in fine performances, are very well written. Perhaps Kitty's parents characters are a bit lightly drawn. I love this series and commend all involved. Good TV viewing.