mad_man_moon

... but unfortunately no-one's home.

By which I mean to say: Plenty of things are happening, but there is no evocative core, character building, or genuine emotion.

It's a film for people that need things to happen, without any feels involved.

It's full of bombast, exposition, left field cuts and platitudinous axioms that essentially do not amount to much. This leaves very little space for performance or subtlety from the leads.

That being said there is good space (made) for comedy, and it's very well done. Ultimately, though, it's a shame that those short moments (which gave more character than any other in the film) are few and far between. Even the physical comedy is good. It's by no means a dark and broody affair, it's just that the pace is far too fast, and the cuts are far too frequent for any personal narrative to build over all the stuff that is happening.

This is a shame, because the film is gorgeous, and I was genuinely blown away a few times. Visually it's stunning, however that really translates poorly to any drama for the characters involved.

I believe that there is a film in there, somewhere, perhaps on the cutting room floor, I do not know. Perhaps I needed a bit more time with him as a person before and after before we were thrown in to scene after scene of (quite, quite, awesome) action.

Ultimately, I think they've struggled to tame the language, and have perhaps gone a bit too respectful of the source material, which is unweildy at the best of times. Dumbing it down really could have helped the performances sell this a little more, and since we are at the start of the good Doctor's journey, that might not have been too bad a thing.

It's fine, but there is more film in there somewhere, begging to get out of the mirror that this is.

This show actually came out of nowhere for me, but on first helping I'm all in.

In England this was just signed up by Amazon as an 'exclusive' and, unlike their recent 'original' (the collection) this (from TNT in the states) is actually really rather good on all accounts. It's a medium burn affair and has (to my ridiculously poor memory) more in common with Point Break than the original film. Where the film was brutal and unforgiving (emotionally, mainly, but also physically) this is a slightly more laid back affair on the whole, but there's an underlying brooding ... perhaps that's the sound work, but credit to all performances.

Through the washed out lens we're already given a slight haze, and through the lens of Finn Cole's "J" we're given more haze. He's shaken, though, and major adjustments are all we're seeing for him.

Where this goes next I am actually really begging to find out, and hope that the tone and intensity (of key performances) can be kept up.

Highly recommend watching this first episode, I have an inkling that the whole thing will be worth it.

I will try episode two, but this was really not that good, I'm afraid.

The setting seems off, the music is impertinent, performances shallow, and so much of it seems really ... just ... I dunno ... not up to the standards that I expect from Amazon, I'm just not that convinced, I'm afraid.

One exception to the performances was Jenna Thiam as Nina, who's depth of character was astounding. I hope that's not just because she was around players that were perhaps not at their best (although I feel actors usually up their game around better actors ... so it's weird) on screen. I obviously don't wish to be harsh on the other performances, perhaps I'm missing bits, perhaps they were marred by the poor set design and general production. It really does feel like it's completely shot in a studio.

I mentioned the music, right? Wow the music (not on radios/in clubs) is overpoweringly annoying here ... I can't help but feel like a more delicate touch (or none at all) might have helped focus on the more important things. That's not meant as a back seat director comment (I would be *awful*), but more of how it felt to be assaulted by it seemingly all the time.

Let's not forget the dream ... holy wow ... Oh(!) and Billy's line "I like to remember what made Paris so unforgettable." Man. OK ... Will try episode two, and amend this score (and possibly this) ... but I think there's a little climb here.