Obsession

Started watching this because Richard Armitage is in it. Quickly devolved into hate-watching two utterly reprehensible individuals selfishly causing chaos and wrecking lives.

William is a star pediatric surgeon, long married, who becomes obsessed with his son Jay's girlfriend Anna. Jay tells her he wants her all to himself, and we're also told someone once committed suicide over her. So what I want to know is, what's so damn special and irresistible about Anna? I sure don't see it. She certainly doesn't make me think "wow, I wish I looked like her" (I especially hated her haircut). So she must have pheromones that pack one hell of a punch or a gold-plated vajayjay, is all I can guess. Anna comes across creepy and manipulative. She loves to play head games to make herself seem mysterious ("learn to love the questions", seriously?). Anyone with any sense would find that annoying as hell, not irresistible.

Honestly, the most fun part of this series for me was frequently yelling "What the hell is wrong with you?" at both William and Anna. The sex scenes were laughable, since Anna is always ready to go within 5 seconds and apparently immune to both STDs and pregnancy since condoms never seem to enter the picture.

Normally I wouldn't even bother writing a review over such a monstrosity.

However it's worth noting why this series failed so spectacularly: Because 1. CASTING MATTERS and 2. SCRIPT MATTERS.

In this particular case, Armitage looks like he landed the role by accident. He plays one thing and one thing only: the confused mature male. He doesn't express anything else throughout the first episode except confusion. He looks confused even when he is looking out the window. Until it's all explained: he wasn't confused, he was "passionate".

What utter crap.

But he is overshadowed in lack of conviction by Ms Murphy.

She is an actress who has played some roles in the past where she was vaguely erotic, but in this particular series, her forced and artificial transformation to femme fatale who simply looks intensely at a father twice and convinces him to fall in love with his son's girlfriend is just ludicrous.

She looks like a stalker or a person with some serious mental disorder, and not for one scene does she manage to justify or explain why an older man and especially a doctor would read her behavior as seductive or sexual.

So basically this all comes down to one simple thing: if you have such a weak script that fails miserably to explain the process through which two people fall in love, like for example the script of "the English patient", one needs to rely on the chemistry, appearance and acting skills of the two main characters.

If you cankot cast people who look the part, and on top of that you can't even give them the semblance of a decent script to express it, why even bother to film one scene?

Let alone a whole series.

This is a complete failure that should have been shelved and not released.

I find it odd that the description for this series doesn't admit to being a 100% remake of the mesmerising film starring Juliette Binoche & Jeremy Irons from '92. I mean there is dialogue ripped from it verbatim. Its not a bad series but could've been better. And nowhere near as psychologically demented, captivating or shocking. If you want to watch a true fkd up psychosexual drama/tragedy, with two huge indie stars from the 90's in one of the true indie cult film favourites of the 90's ? Go watch "Damage". The movie is legit. Not this watered down, Adrian Lyne lite version. And although Charlie Murphy (Anna) does an admiral job, NO ONE does that watery, luminously mysterious, sucking the soul out of you brown eyed stare like Juliette Binoche. NO ONE.

"A member of Parliament falls passionately in love with his son's fiancée. They pursue their affair with obsessive abandon despite the dangers of discovery and what it would do to his complacent life and his son...." Sound familiar? This is the plot of the fabulously erotic 1992 film "Damage" starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche. (Based on the novel by Josephine Hart.) Change MP to Dr. And you have "Obsession." Both even have the initial moment of locking eyes across a crowded room. Don't get me wrong-- I have a crush on Richard Armitage, and he's a worthy successor to my all-time heartthrob Jeremy (who, let's face it, is getting too old for this sort of thing). And who doesn't love a good, all-consuming erotic obsession that wrecks a bunch of lives? I'm no killjoy.

But check out the 1992 film, too, and the novel while you're at it.

P. S. In "Damage," the fiancee is also Anna, and the wife is also Ingrid.

Well produced and shot, but why didn't the writers make the characters smarter? Just because you're a genius surgeon doesn't necessarily mean you know how to successfully have an affair. Here are some handy tips:

• Turn off text message notifications. It only serves as a way to alert your spouse that something's up. Same goes for taking calls at strange times of the day or in important meetings/events.

• Don't stare off into space like you've been dealt the worst news possible. Your spouse will ask if everything's okay and you'll have to lie.

• Avoid lying if you're not good at it.

• Don't let your phone ring until a coworker notices and asks you to answer it.

• Don't take calls from your lover in the presence of other people. One side of a conversation can still speak volumes.

It's like the main character skipped the class on "discretion."