itsgotmyleg

I get why they wanted to make an American remake of the fantastic Broadchurch. I really do. But they were so concerned with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Inferior in every possible way, Gracepoint lacks all the charm, character and brooding of the original. On paper, the cast is fantastic - Michael Peña, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte, and a returning David Tennant. But the performances are so flat compared to the stirring emotional turns from Broadchurch. I think Anna Gunn has it worst of all. She's a great actor and I've loved her in Breaking Bad and Deadwood. But she's no Olivia Colman, and her Ellie Miller falls so flat and feels so two-dimensional. Maybe if I hadn't seen Broadchurch first, I'd have thought differently. But Olivia Colman's Miller was so raw and biting and wonderfully flawed that Gunn's performance seems a mere shadow in comparison.

David Tennant returning in the same role (albeit, with a different name) was surprising. It was jarring to hear much-loved lines from Broadchurch delivered with a (not always great) American accent. He is still amazing in the role, but it just didn't ring as true in Gracepoint as it did in Broadchurch.

If you haven't seen Broadchurch, give this one a go. If you have, maybe skip this as it pales significantly in comparison.

I don't even know where to begin. Despite hearing all the behind-the-scenes drama, I was still willing to give this a go. Mainly because I love Schitt's Creek and I wanted to see Dan Levy in a new role.

Really wish I hadn't. From the first episode, it was gross, exploitative garbage. And as if that isn't bad enough (it really should be) it's just bad. It's really bad. It's just so, so bad. And the characters are all awful, awful people. I have a hard time with any story that doesn't involve at least one character that I can feel some kind of sympathy toward. There are rare exceptions (Succession), but for the most part I need one person to be a grounding presence. This has absolutely none of that. Everyone is terrible. They use and abuse Jocelyn in a myriad of ways. They sponge off her, control her, coddle her, all the whole trying to ring every last dime out of her career. All the while not giving a single thought for her well-being and mental health.

Jocelyn herself shows moments of being an interesting person, until The Weeknd's Tedros comes into play. Then she's just a doormat for yet another character. And while I am always loath to yuck anyone else's yum when it comes to sex, I don't necessarily want to see it on my tv screen. The frequent and gratuitous (and unnecessarily graphic) sex scenes between Jocelyn and Tedros are just a hair too far for me. If they advanced the plot in some way, I'd be able to maybe squint really hard and give them a pass. But seeing as they seem like torture porn for the sake of torture porn, I'm just not able to climb on board.

All in all, my recommendation is "don't waste your time".