Cape town

A star rating of 7 at this time?? How can this be? I ask. Cape Town is possibly the worst miniseries I have ever watched, and a huge disappointment for me, as a big fan of all Deon Meyer's novels. I wrongly believed that a series based on one of his books could not fail. I was also looking forward to seeing a South African offering. If Cape Town is any benchmark, their television industry needs another 50 years of evolution.

I have been sitting here trying to find some redeeming feature and/or something positive to say. Alas I can't! (Other than that the two lead actors were very easy on the eye.) In terms of production, some things were JUST adequate, nothing whatsoever was done well. Somewhat surprisingly, very little use was made of the beautiful Cape scenery.

Overall the acting was stiff and amateurish; one or two of the female actors gave creditable performances, but not one of the men was believable. As for the accents of the two non-South African lead actors...these were not even close to an attuned ear. Boris Kodjoe was significantly better at everything than his Norwegian partner, Seim. My view is that South African actors would have been a far better choice.

I don't recall the book being so difficult to follow. As a TV story, it's just too convoluted to work. The producers could have (and should have) left out half the pretty much irrelevant subplots, which did nothing more than distract and confuse.

Anyway, no point analysing it any further...it just sucked. I hope Deon Meyer doesn't let this production team anywhere NEAR his Benny Griessel novels.

I have to say that I was absolutely bound by this new crime mini-series. Of course it is not reinventing the wheel, but it tells an exciting story in a very dynamic way. There are several plot lines / crime cases connected, and the suspense is increasing bit by bit until the surprising finale, when all the loose ends come together. Maybe a bit conventional at some points, but quite entertaining! The drinking and overweight police captain, mourning after his dead wife, surely is a well-known character in the crime genre. Anyway, I think the role is very well interpreted by Seim, who gives it all the pessimism and self-doubts it needs. I really liked the various characters and the multiculti cast - especially the Polish Dorocinski playing the junkie coming clean. The hair and make-up stylists may have overdone their work a bit with the female actors… you won't see these loads of eyeshadow and rouge in a U.S. or European series. The city of Cape Town looks stunning in this show and the camera work is really high-quality! Well done altogether.

Cape Town has cleverly incorporates the tone and intrigue of Nordic noir and then drenches it in African light. The cinematography is gorgeous and the series stands up well against far more expensive Hollywood productions. Trond Espen Seims was well chosen as MAT Joubert despite the challenges of the South African accent and he deftly navigates the brutal physicality of the character in stark contrast to his internal turmoil and fragile emotional state. Cape Town's strength is in character detail and care has been taken in every supporting role. This is an ambitious series which gets stronger with each episode. Lovers of clever crime stories and intriguing characters will find much to enjoy.

As a huge fan of Scandinavian crime I came across this show starring Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. What struck me right away was the prototypical basic constellation I've seen so many times before in Swedish or Danish crime series: the broken and guilt-ridden investigator who has to delve into the past in order to not only solve his current case, but to restore his reputation and regain his original strength as a detective. This concept is neither new nor very exiting, but it works just fine. What sets this show apart from Scandinavian ones is the exotic and beautiful setting of Cape Town. DoP Florian Schilling does a great job photographing this dream destination. The actors' performance, however, is less convincing. I see why the creators chose Seim: in his physique, he just IS Mat Joubert. Sad, tired, out of shape – but charismatic. Unfortunately, his Norwegian accent is very obvious and I found it to be quite irritating. Boris Kodjoe, by contrast, masters the challenge of the foreign accent pretty well. Shame that his range as an actor is quite limited. Nevertheless, I'd recommend watching CAPE TOWN for its high production value, its unique atmosphere and its solid narrative.

Cape Town has a wealth of characters and cross plots that requires you to pay attention. The seemingly divergent stories all come together for an exciting finale. The characters are well drawn and detailed, right down to the background actors. Cape Town itself is a major visual draw card and I loved the quick shots around the cape that open each scene. Worth watching.