Alice & Jack

When someone tells you they are broken, believe them and run. This girl has too many bizarre issues. She is drastically hurtful to Jack who simply doesn't deserve any of it. Time passes but they don't change at all. He is a glutton for punishment. I don't consider this a love story. It's more a tale of the damage two people can do to each other. I found some of it absolutely difficult to watch - it's painful for the viewer. I liked the actress and actor but not their characters. I wanted to reach through the screen and give Jack a good shaking to loosen the cobwebs in his brain. What was he ever thinking? How can you be so overwhelmed with someone after one night no matter how good it was - even after she kicks you out and says not to call. Seriously, Jack get a grip. This is simply not a real life story but a complete story of human suffering.

Odd that this got poor to average ratings, and this series has made me question my faith in reviews. The 5 main cast members gave really great performances, and it was a story about true love, what's not to like? Perhaps it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it's not without fault, but I would advise you to give it a chance as I was swept away by it. It's the best thing I've seen all year. Obviously the two leads were great, but a special mention for Aisling Bea who really is a very good actor. Surely it's only a matter of time before she gets the lead she deserves. I want a friend like Sunil Patel btw. There is a lot of crap available to stream, it's not hard to find, but what is hard to find is a series that really draws you in, and keeps you thinking about it long after it's ended.

I watched the first 3 episodes - I could not believe this was meant to be a real relationship. I was giving off about their two characters " shes an awful character- the worst person , no excuses for her actions even with her personal background. He is a idiot whos getting walked over time & time again" I went on imbd to read reviews that agreed with me.

I didn't feel great after watching these but i also wanted to keep at it.

Then it clicked, i clicked. By the last few episodes I understood her, I understood him. This was full of simple real moments in a relationship. I sobbed sore.

Beautiful.

This series is a diminished example of what PBS generally offers. In the first episode, the plot seemed quite appealing. It all comes crashing down in about ep 3, when redundant scenes of the troubled romance rear their ugly head. In real life, some relationships go through testing phases, particularly if one partner is sorting through past trauma. This is understandable. But to include repetitive emotional scenarios will wear out certain viewers. Subsequently, the overall rhythm suffered. The two lead actors were sincere, but I was not feeling their chemistry. Several of their scenes resembled acting class exercises. As the series evolved, each interaction between the couple became far too precious. I'm fairly new to the work of actress Andrea Riseborough, and there were moments when I found her believable. But many times the camera lingered on her face (not her fault), and that's when we witness her ever-revolving Parade of Expressions: contorted forehead, furrowed brow, dismayed eyes, and unsubtle mouth movements. I should add that I was impressed by her fine work in "To Leslie"; her pliable face seemed fitting for that character. In Alice & Jack there is one unintentionally funny moment when she offers a reassuring kiss to her lover, yet her face is so poignantly troubled. Fast forward to the final episode: it came off as a predictable mess. I was thinking "hopefully the writers won't adopt such a convenient ending", but in fact they did just that. The final scenes were deflating and ruinous. I'm shocked that PBS gave this series a green-light. Likewise, I'm bothered that I chose to endure the entire series.

There are some television dramas that are simply bad: the plotting is implausable, the dialogue clunky, the acting wooden. 'Alice and Jack' doesn't have these problems; but in spite of this, it isn't very good. One problem it faces is a standard challenge for writers of romantic dramas: the viewer is expected to know that the central characters would be good together rather better than the characters themselves, as the drama lies in us watching them overcome the obstacles in their way. The obstacles faced by Jack in this drama are very simple: the Alice we meet is a selfish lunatic, the consequence of some deep family trauma. This makes it hard for the viewer not to simply wish that Jack will run a mile, so the story compensates by making Alice a genius. For example, when she decides to make amends, she simply lets him share in her ultimately successful plan to make millions speculating on oil futures. The whole framing is rather odd, as if her extraordinary qualities somehow excuse her obnoxiousness. The drama's other problem is something it actually does quite well, but does too much of. Most of us have some experience of falling in love, and of that sensation where everything in life seems heightened, in beauty as well as pain. Much of 'Alice and Jack' occurs in a gorgeous, almost hyper-real portrayal of the world; and in small doses, this would be fine, capturing how things might feel to its protagonists as key moments. The problem is that "much of" is a big understatement. Alice and Jack's entire world seems to consist of falling in (and out) of love with each other. This is not a story where mutual affection has to be squeezed in around the mundance realities of life; Alice's financial aptitude ensures there are no arguments about who's going to pay the rent this month, while all sympathetic figures in the story are good looking, and when tragedy strikes in the end, the central characters are both given those mysteriously beautiful and dignified deaths that sadly few people get off the television screen. I know some people have said they would have liked for Alice and Jack's best friends to be better developed, but personally I don't think much promise was missed there: they basically function as emotional support animals, dedicating their lives to the welfare of their fundamantally superior friends.

In summary, you could take a selection of scenes from this and make what looked like a trailer for the greatest love story ever told; but in fact, what we get in full is less of a story and more of a trailer spun out over six parts, all affect and no actual realism. The leading actors do their best with the material, but can't altogether save it.