Armadillo

Beautifully acted, written, and filmed Thanks to a friend in Ireland, who converted the video for me (I'm in the US, and can't use PAL format) I was able to see this magnificient BBC/A&E production. It is reportedly to show on A&E in the spring of 2002...but, I just couldn't wait that long.

I'm a *major* Frain fan, so I was looking forward to this with great anticipation. And, thankfully, my anticipations were not disturbed ;) Mr Frain fits the part of Lorimer Black perfectly. No one else could have played the part, imo. I read a description of Lorimer in the novel...and it is an exact physical image of Frain. It's as if it were written with him in mind.

Lorimer/Milo, Mr. Hogg, Flavia, the Blocj clan, Rintoul, Sir Simon, Torquil, and a load of other colorful characters are brought to vivid life in this very enjoyable production. Not only is James Frain superb...but Ms. McCormack, Mr. Rea, and Mr. Bonneville are perfection in their roles.

All the cast was great...the writing excellent, and the filming made me want to move to London. It looks beautiful! Very stylishly shot.

My fave scenes are when Lorimer goes to visit his family and gives some new shoes to his little niece, and the scene where he's telling her about their family history...and when he becomes mesmerized by Flavia's image in a TV ad, all the scenes of him visiting his Dad (so sad and tender) , all scenes with Frain and Rea (they're great together), the first kiss between Flavia and Lorimer (very sexy in it's eagerness at the excitement and promise of new love. You don't need hot and steamy sex scenes to have a sexy film. Flavia and Lorimer share just two kisses, but they're so sensual that it's all you need. More would have ruined the effect.) The sleep clinic scenes are funny, and heart breaking. I love the bull dog bit--too funny...very cute. And, the helmut incident is hilarious! Oh, heck, I just adore the whole enchilada.

"Armadillo" is very unique, intriguing, funny, and a bit heart wrenching at moments. It's a joy to watch...but, you'll have to pay attention, as the insurance fraud part of the plot is quite complex.

Oh, I should add that the sound track is simply beautiful.

"Armadillo" is an absolutely top-notch film with a complex, absorbing story and brilliant performances. On American tv (with commercials) the movie clocks in at three hours, but you will definitely not be bored. James Frain plays Lorimar Black, a successful young loss adjuster at a posh London insurance firm. He has a sleep disorder and is living something of a double life, but that is the least of his problems compared to what develops in his professional life.

This movie has many plot lines going on, but is always lucid and compelling, thanks to a fine screenplay adapted by the author of the original novel. The stand-out performance is the chameleonic James Frain, who is so natural he never seems to be acting at all. Stephen Rea is hysterical (in both senses of the word) as Frain's paranoid boss. The only bit that didn't quite work for me was Lorimar's romantic obsession with Catherine McCormack's character, Flavia. McCormack is luminous as ever, so we understand why Lorimar would be attracted to her, but she is so bitchy and manipulative with him, Lorimar's passionate pursuit seems slightly masochistic.

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.

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'.