Armadillo

Character-driven with a carefully-constructed plot, Howard Davies'

tautly-directed "Armadillo" is top quality television, more satisfying

than any theatrical movie in recent months, including "Road to

Perdition." William Boyd's script, about an insurance adjuster who

is not what he seems while he tries to puzzle out a claim that is

something other than what it purports to be, draws in the viewer

from the moment the film opens with James Frain walking

through the charred structure he's investigating. Frain is perfect for

the role--vulnerable, expressive, sympathetic. His developing

romance with Catherine McCormick is fully realized. Hugh

Bonneville somehow empathetically portrays one of the most vile

characters in memory, and Stephen Rea amuses with his over-the-top characterization of the insurance adjuster's enigmatic

and bombastic boss. Beautifully photographed, the camera

follows the adjuster as he pries into the mysteries of the claim

he's investigating and captures the tension between the two

lovers. At three hours it's a bit long, but I watched it twice. And I'll

probably take another look.

I first have to thank a previous poster, teri_2, who recommended those interested in seeing Armadillo to first try and track down the version that appeared on BBC1 as opposed to the heavily edited, hacked up version that appeared on A&E.

Thank you so very, very much, teri_2.

I saw Armadillo on A&E and absolutely loved it. I contemplated buying it -- on A&E -- and then I saw teri_2's post.

I was able to track down a VHS copy of Armadillo as it was originally shown on BBC1 on ebay and I have to say, it is a far, far superior version.

The editing was seamless, not as choppy as the one shown on A&E, and actually flushed out the story and characters much, much more.

James Frain absolutely took my breath away. What a performance.

And the music -- if anyone can get a listing of the songs that were featured in the film please email me! Beautiful, absolutely stunningly beautiful.

I didn't know what I was getting into with Armadillo. I'd seen the odd trailer, perhaps doctored by A&E to make it look like science-fiction; I knew nothing of the book; I suspected it might even be a TV series. My first ray of hope came when I heard Frain's voice; my second when he got out of the right side of his motor car; and from then on I was hooked. I still didn't know if it was a series or not, and so when the one hour mark approached, I looked at the clock and wondered if this was it, if there would be a quick denouement. But it went happily on, into a second hour, and as that hour neared its end I wondered the same thing again. Still I was not sure that this was not at least some kind of TV pilot, yet when we entered hour three I was fairly sure I was watching something of quality, marred only by the kind of butchering a colony channel like A&E could be guilty of. I was so in the dark that I didn't even recognise the main characters for a while (ok, Fox was relatively easy); then it suddenly went up for me who Hogg was, and Flavia looked familiar, but I couldn't place her either - it was just a good movie, and undoubtedly would have been better if it hadn't been butchered by a colonial channel hell-bent on selling laundry detergent at four o'clock in the morning. For me, one of its best features was how it was totally unpredictable: you really didn't know where the whole thing was going; another was Catherine - she was so delicious - and perhaps a bit 'picky' as others have suggested - but I just kept hanging on the 'get the girl' scenes, and for me the ending was quite yummy, although it didn't offer the same kind of exposure found in, for example, Tailor of Panama. Do see this gem, but try to get a copy sent over from England, or better yet, move to England. Oh - you'll find a good interview with Frain about the movie at the BBC site - just search for 'Armadillo'.

Hey gang, let's put on a show. All about an insurance adjuster! Or loss adjuster. Or forensic beancounter. Or whatever. I suppose it's possible. But it didn't work this time. 90 minutes would have been plenty but this drones on for three hours. The plot is confusing at first. But thats okay because when you finally understand it, you realize it's also horribly cliched and trite. For those who get off on artsey dartsey cinematography, the tedium may be relieved from time to time. I endured it, expecting some sort of a smash surprise ending. Uh Uh. I've seen Shirley Temple movies that were more clever.

Having seen this very entertaining program -- even the shortened A&E version -- I'm going to have to now go out and find William Boyd's book to see how closely it follows. James Frain was a superb choice to play the conflicted Lorimer Black/Milo Bloch, star insurance adjuster who finds himself in the middle of a convoluted insurance fraud scheme that lays bare the corruption behind everything he has held dear and aspired to. Catherine McCormack is delectable as the love interest he impulsively pursues; she is formidably chic with a "watch your step" edge. Hugh Bonneville's Torquil Helvoir-Jayne (!) is the epitome of a stupid jerk, but with the oddly likable quality of a guy who's just too much of a doof to be completely blamed for his shortcomings. James Fox does another of his capably elegant upper-class turns, this time playing a character much like his role in "Sexy Beast." But I have to say that, for me at least, Stephen Rea virtually stole the show -- his George Hogg, with all of his eccentric metaphors and his paranoiac rages, is so over the top at times it's hilarious. Throw in a cool, stylish music score and some excellent supporting players (including veterans such as Ian McNiece, Trevor Peacock, Stephen Moore and Ron Cook) and you have a sophisticated tale of corporate misbehavior that you'll want to watch more than once.