Getting Hurt

This dark study of the subject of obsession was originally written by Andrew Davies (yes, that one) as a novel in 1989. Now remembered for his period adaptations like Pride and Prejudice, he later adapted his book for the screen in 1998 and it is as far removed from Jane Austen as you can get. I know as I remember watching it as a teenager when it was originally broadcast, and even now there are a couple of scenes that stay in the mind.

The story begins when London solicitor Charlie Cross (Ciaran Hinds) is called out of bed in the middle of the night to represent Edgar Bosco (Nicholas Hope), a man arrested by police in connection with the murder of a number of prostitutes. Straight away Charlie realizes it's not going to be an easy case because Bosco is a little bit, err, odd. He looks odd, and although he is polite and courteous, he doesn't help matters with his enigmatic way of speaking - such as when he tells him at their first meeting "I am guilty, of course - in a sense. Well, you know, aren't we all?" (speak for yourself, buddy). And it doesn't help that he's been caught picking up prostitutes for his somewhat dubious photographic artwork. But is he guilty? Or is somebody else out there doing the killings?

Bosco asks him to contact a woman called Viola, who works as a waitress in a bar nearby to inform her of his predicament. But Viola (Amanda Ooms), who Charlie discovers is actually Bosco's wife, doesn't want to know and is happy for him to stay in custody. It seems that she is frightened of him and when Charlie turns up to visit at their flat he discovers the place covered with (mainly naked) photos of Viola on the walls. But Viola is a little bit enigmatic herself and when he goes to leave she calls out "Are you a good man? Can you save me?" For Charlie, a supposedly happily married man with a teenage daughter, he immediately becomes besotted with her and by the end of the day he is like a rat up a drainpipe as he turns up at her flat to embark on a highly charged affair. What follows threatens to destroy his marriage, his career and his life as he becomes obsessed with her - so much so that when Viola shows him a book of some of Bosco's more disturbing photography he gives a anonymous tip off to the police to blacken the case against Bosco further. BIG mistake!

Getting Hurt has a lot of flaws, not least the speed in which Charlie becomes obsessed with Viola. From the first moment he sees her he is apparently so smitten that by the end of the following day this happily married man is indulging in rampant (and very frequent) nookie with his client's wife - a man, I may add, who is on a MURDER charge! (Let's face it, would you risk jumping into bed with a woman whose husband looked like Edgar?) Yet Charlie does, and by day two (yes, you read that right) he abandons his wife and daughter to move into a flat with Viola. It doesn't really convince, and part of the problem for me was the casting of Amanda Ooms as Viola. There is nothing wrong with her performance, but I struggled to see her inspiring obsession in anyone, let alone two men. Then again, they always say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to be fair to her she gives a committed performance that also involves her, along with co star Ciaran Hinds, having to bare all in a number of sex scenes that leave nothing to the imagination. When Charlie and Viola first have sex, she comments that his lovemaking was like him coming back from the dead - inferring that he had become dead in his marriage. And certainly there is a lack of life between him and his wife Helen (Ingrid Lacey), despite apparently being a happy marriage. There is little to show what Charlie has to lose from his affair, and maybe if it had been a 2 part thriller it could of taken more time in establishing his marriage and home life, as well as building up his obsession with Viola. As it is, here it feels rather rushed, with few chances for characters to gel.

It also suffers from some risible dialogue, not least the unintentionally funny scene where Charlie confesses to his wife that he's been seeing someone. "What do you mean?" she asks, confused. "You're hallucinating?" You have to pity Ingrid Lacey for being lumbered with such dialogue, as she is given little to do. But she convinces in what scenes she has as the wronged wife hurt and bewildered by her husband's behaviour, and she does have one moment of fun when she completely loses it when she spots her husband in a shop buying women's underwear meant for Viola (at least, I hope it was for Viola!) Fairing far better is Victoria Shalet (Harmony from The Queen's Nose) as their teenage daughter Claire. It makes a refreshing change to see a teenager in a drama who isn't moody or stroppy, and Shalet gives a lovely performance as the daughter struggling to comprehend the situation she finds herself in while all that she knew as certain crumbles about her. There's a particularly touching scene when Charlie picks her up from school in his car to tell her they are splitting up. Her hurt is plain to see as she whimpers "You're supposed to look after me," and you cannot help but feel for her character. And it is Claire who is the unwitting catalyst for what is to come, as after a somewhat average first half the fun really begins when the police unexpectedly release Bosco on bail. None too pleased that his own solicitor has set him up, or that he is also sleeping with his wife, Bosco decides to stalk his family and sets his sights on Charlie's daughter. In one memorable scene he visits Claire at her mother's art gallery where he proceeds to photographically seduce her, before then showing her some of his own photographs - including secretly taken nude snaps of her own father with Viola - before getting very ratty indeed! It's a chilling scene, not least because Claire is so vulnerable in a situation in which she is totally innocent due to her father's reckless behaviour. And there is an added sense of danger as it is still unknown whether Bosco is a serial killer or not. Either way, he's clearly unstable!

Despite it's flaws, it makes up for it somewhat with it's exciting 2nd half and benefits from some decent performances. Nicholas Hope is certainly unnerving as Bosco, whose sheer strangeness and politeness make for a compelling combination, while David Hayman is great fun as the detective Corvin, who becomes exasperated by Bosco's evasive answers and Charlie's erratic behaviour as he tries to solve the recent murders of prostitutes. It is Hayman who is responsible for much of the bad language that frequents this mystery, but he also has many of the best lines as the seemingly only rational one on the case. But it's Ciaran Hinds who dominates this thriller, thoroughly convincing as the man who risks his family life and career for the highly charged lust of the young, enigmatic Viola. But once he has her, he becomes obsessed with the fear of losing her and eventually becomes the same sort of person that drove Viola to try to escape Bosco. "Let me breathe, Charlie. Trust me," she says at one point. But Viola herself is hard to work out. Is she the victim of other men's obsessions, or is she more calculating, a destroyer of men? It's hard to tell in this, but by the time this thriller edges towards it's tense climax she has left a trail of chaos. It's telling that when Corvin asks Charlie where he thinks Bosco might go if he wanted revenge, Charlie realizes that he would target those he held dearest to him. But instead of driving to his wife and daughter's home, he instead goes straight to Viola's flat, such is his obsession with her.

Overall, Getting Hurt is a thriller of two halves, hindered by a slow start but makes for a compelling thriller once Bosco is released on bail, and the uncertainty of whether Bosco is guilty or innocent makes this a tense watch. The bleak weather and frost laden streets help add to it's sinister feel, while the jazz soundtrack and doomy TV score evoke perfectly a dark and somewhat soulless nightlife. It's not a great thriller, by any means, but it is effective as a study of the destructive forces of obsession. And the 2nd half of this thriller makes you wish that it had started in the same vein as it finishes. Flawed, yes, but not without interest, and certainly not for the faint hearted.

Being a big fan of Irish actor Ciaran Hinds, I got my hands on a copy of this BBC film. And was rather disappointed. What is supposed to be dark and mysterious turns out depressing, predictable and rather trashy.

Hinds plays the role of London solicitor Charlie Cross. He's used to being dragged out of his comfortable bed at all hours to bail out clients. He has a wife and teenage daughter. They live a comfortable life. No surprises. Everything, as he says, a man could want.

Everything changes when he's called upon to defend Edward Bosco, a rather diffident peculiar man accused of murdering prostitutes under the guise of being a photographer. He answers questions like, "Are you guilty?" with an enigmatic "Aren't we all?"

Cross is sent by Bosco to tell his girlfriend Viola, a waitress, what's happened. The usually unflappable cross is blown away by the mysterious Viola (played by Amanda Ooms) and gets lost in her dark eyes and pouty lips. Before long, the two are involved in a torrid affair despite that fact Charlie is representing Bosco and living a lie at home.

Well, mystery flies out the window when the crap hits the fan. Reality eventually intrudes and Charlie's not-so-carefully kept secrets start spilling out. The result is infinitely boring and you can see it coming about a mile away. The film seems more an excuse to see Hinds and Ooms cavorting in the sack than to build any suspense or tension.

I never pass up a chance to see Hinds act but this one is not worth seeing unless you're truly a fan.