Black Doves

It's one of those common entertainments where you can't really criticise the acting and the production values are pretty much flawless. It starts off really well. You think you are about to be absorbed and seduced by a complex spy thriller. But John Le Carre it is not. Instead you soon realise that it's neither serious nor funny. As is so often the case these days it's the paucity of the story that is the problem. It has quirky characters and indeed characters with all the charm and conversational wit one expects of psychopaths. They could be related to Eve from Killing Eve but these are poor cousins and don't really add up well on the scale of DNA psychopath inheritance. It's a comic book caricature of a spy thriller with a storyline that relies on a thin plot and frequent action scenes to fill the spaces. Sadly disappointing, it could have been really good.

Black Doves ended up being a very solid spy thriller. I'm a big fan of this genre so went into this with high hopes even though I was skeptical of Keira Knightley playing a bad a$$ seeing she only weighs 100lbs soaking wet. I was wrong, she killed it. Same goes for Ben Whishaw, who also looks like he's 100lbs. Both of them were totally believable in their roles. I had a blast watching this and binged all 6 episodes over the weekend. I was addicted once I started watching it. I'm glad they plan on doing a second season because one is not enough. I want to see more of these characters and the world they built here.

This was a good enough little miniseries, though it seems that it may not be this mini as more may come. I'm not sure more is needed or even wanted, but the two leads are very good and both are entertaining, so if there is more, there are a lot worse things that could happen. It's a spy thriller, along with various love stories, and it is the latter that sort of works best as the spying stuff is a bit convoluted with spies & killers popping up from anywhere & everywhere at any time, and sometimes I just stopped trying to follow the entire path and just enjoy the moment. These two genres frequently clash and this series does not lack action.

While this is not his finest moment, I've always been a fan of Ben Whishaw. He is so very talented, it amazes me how long he has mostly worked under the radar, Bond aside. His role here is a bit unique being a leading man who is a gay killer. I've always liked Keira Knightley when out of corsets. I find her to be at her best with more lighthearted fare. This isn't that, but the way it's played, it almost is and she is good here. I don't recall ever seeing her in such a kickass mode before, but she's good at it. There are a few other good performances in this most notably Ella Lily Hyland as one of the endless deadly spies, young as she may be. She is a hoot. Sarah Lancashire Is effectively ominous & mysterious while Andrew Buchan, the only person I've mentioned not killing people, as Knightley's sincerely kind, nice and honest husband is excellently gentle & warm. Just imagine a series in which the nicest person in it is an important politician! He is a true sweetheart. Much like a gay killer, you don't see this much either.

This is a bit of fun and I suppose if there is more, I might watch, but if that is two years from now, I kinda doubt it.

One of my chief, and constant, criticisms of so many films now, is the lack of solid and consistent scripts, AND marred by horrible musical tracks and pathetic sound mixing. So I start this by saying that it was a real pleasure to discover a whole SERIES with no glitches or distractions in sound. As for the script and plot, as one reviewer here put it: "Ok if you don't think too hard. Good acting. Lazy writing. Plot holes you can drive a truck through." I wold add- high marks for the humor built in and subtlety of some great lines such as: "Sorry" as the store-clerk is knocked out with drugs. Very fine acting and production throughout, but too many holes and dead spots to carry the overall. Would love to see a continuation with more talented scripting.

I just finished watching Black Doves and want to see more. Black Doves currently has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes so it's obviously a hit with both critics and the audience. It stars Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sara Lancashire. All 3 and the rest of the cast were all terrific. I won't be surprised to see this show get nominated for multiple awards come award season. It has plenty of action, drama, comedy and twists and turns to entertain everyone. There are so many spy shows and some especially great ones this year so you have to be good enough to stick out of you want people to notice and Black Doves definitely does that. It's a must watch for any fan of spy series.