Ein neuer Sommer

A movie set on Nantucket Island where a seemingly wealthy couple Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) a writer and her doting husband Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) are hosting a wedding for their middle son Ben (Billy Howle) and his fiancé Amelia (Eve Hewson). She is deemed "less than" by Ben's parents as that she's not quite from the stock that their Ben is from, meaning, she's marrying up and Mom (at least) doesn't like it. Amelia's gregarious, beautiful and bubbly friend Merritt shows up and tensions rise. The older brother Thomas (Jack Reynor) and his pregnant wife Abby (the legendary Dakota Fanning!) are there also. He's a drinker and stirs up trouble while she's a silver tongued passive aggressive diva. The younger brother Will is only 17, soon to be 18 at which time he and his older brothers will inherit their trusts. A motive for murder as that someone ends up dead on what would have been the morning of the wedding.

It's a who dune it in the vein of Agatha Christy with a star studded cast. Here are the things I liked about it.

The story, it's interesting and it's told well.

The actors all did a very good job as could be expected since there are powerhouse actors in this. I loved Live Schriber, Eve Hewson, Billy Howle, Nikki Henry, Jack Reynor, Ishaan Khatter, Dakota Fanning and Isabelle Adjani.

The setting is lovely, I could watch it on mute and enjoy it.

What I didn't like about it.

The order: there was some disjointedness in the story telling but it was done to build tension so I get it, I just don't like it. I like my stories to have a beginning, middle and end that resolves nicely, this one starts kind of in the middle of a story but it's not that off putting.

Believe it or not, Nicole Kidman is miscast in this. She's starting to look a little "done" with cosmetic enhancements and the lower half of her face doesn't seem to move with her eyes. She's a little too old for the role she was cast in, a younger actress may have driven this up a little more for me. I found myself staring at her lips instead of listening to her lines. Also, she sighs like 30 times through the movie, I needed some other range of acting. I'm not that mad her overall, she still did a good job but there were some idiosyncrasies for me.

Should you watch it, yes! It's a great show, especially if you like "who done its."

I just finished binging The Perfect Couple and have to say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I've heard mixed reviews about, some people love it and some not so much. I like a good whodunit series and this was only 6 episodes long so I thought what the heck. It also has an amazing cast led by Liev Schreiber, Nicole Kidman, Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor, Dakota Fanning, Billy Howie, Meghann Fahy, etc. That cast alone makes this series worth trying. It has The White Lotus feel to it, especially with how beautiful it's shot. This isn't a masterpiece by any means but if you just want to turn your brain off and enjoy a good whodunit series then give this a try...you won't be disappointed.

I was so excited to watch it, the cast looked great, and I love the genre.

The views of Nantucket Island are gorgeous. Easy to watch, murder plot is good. But something was missing. Most of the characters were annoying. Particularly I disliked the French lady. I get it that they wanted a corky lady to bring some humor with a European touch, but it didn't work out at all. None of the sons were appealing. Even Live Schreiber was a disappointment. I am so upset with Nichole Kidman for ruining her face. It is very hard to concentrate on her acting without constantly thinking of her morphed face, and I really hate to say it. But her tall and slim body left me in awe! Meghann Fahy (Merritt), on the other hand, is absolutely gorgeous with all her natural wrinkles and freckles. I didn't fall in love with any of characters. I did enjoy the woman detective though. All characters felt flat, even the main "poor" girl. Some scenes were well executed, but some were just awful and awkward (the whole scene with book singing....wth was that? Just so bad!). Such a great potential for the series and somehow, they missed the mark. I would totally recast most of them and bring more darkness and less awkwardness. The ending at the zoo didn't work out for me at all. I would rather it ended with Amelia seeing the new book written by Greer at the airport, she glanced at the dedication page and put it back on shelf, then we see her walking to her gate. And, scene!

Still fun to binge watch. If you are bored and have a few hours, go watch it and let me know if you guessed the killer right away.

Terrible plot, zero rhythm, police work so absurd it feels like a parody, and enough soap opera-level twists to make even telenovela writers confused. By the end of this "murder mystery," you're expecting Nicole Kidman to rip off her wig and dramatically reveal she's actually the long-lost brother of the bride's father.

By the time the grand finale rolls around and the murderer is revealed, you've stopped caring. So has the police. And the entire family, for that matter. Yet, I'm sure this will be the most-watched series of 2024-because viewers will hang on just to see how much worse it can get.

In terms of writing, this series borders on satirical. The script is so unnatural and forced, it's almost comedic, and as a result, I found it hard to take any of the actors seriously. How Kidman and Schreiber got wrangled into this fiasco of a production is a more suspenseful mystery than that on which this entire series is based.

That said, it does keep you engaged. I don't regret watching the series, it's a pretty formulaic production, very predictable, and if you're looking for a lazy weekend show to binge, it will scratch that itch. You're not watching Citizen Kane, but what the hey. Sometimes we all just need to turn our brains off for a bit and be entertained.