Just One Look

Coben's books are all eerily alike, and sadly, this movie adaption is no exception. Boring and formulaic from the get go, it never recovers. No character development, subtlety or surprises. I tried hard to ignore my prejudice against American crime fiction (James Patterson being the worst offender). At least Coben seems to write the books himself, but at this stage I reckon I could write the next one... maybe an easy way to make those elusive millions without actually having to put in the hard work? Dreams are free...however, I'd be boring myself, I've read too many excellent - predominsnzly British - whodunnits. By all accounts, American audiences are looking for different fare.

As "Just One Look" (2025 release from Poland; 6 episodes ranging from 41 to 52 min.) opens, a prisoner asks to meet with a prosecutor. The prisoner confesses to killing the prosecutor's daughter in a botched hit scheme. In a parallel story, we are introduced to Greta. Greta has a recurring nightmare about a fire and an indoor concert that killed 28 people... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this TV mini-series is based on the book of the same name by prolific Polish crime novelist Harlan Coben. The story line is complex and involves quite a few characters. It took me well into Episode 2 before it finally started coming together for me. The entire series is plot-heavy, with quite a few turns and twists, so the less said about that, the better. The episodes are fairly short, and this flew by in no time. This is not bad as such but as compared to that other Polish min-series I watched the other day called "Eastern Gate", this lags behind.

"Just One Look" recently started streaming on Netflix and Netflix "suggested" it to me (probably because I watched "Eastern Gate" also just recently). If you are in the mood for a TV crime mini-series set in Poland, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Another story with so many holes. Frustrating the viewer as they ponder through the scenes as to whether this or that would happen. Could be so much better. Whether the author or the producers I get the impression one does not get out much. Usual bring in a pretty main character a bit of sex an old prosecutor and make a mix and hope. Watch if you like murder mystery but do not expect much. So many errors. A prison inmate on the loose that the police can't catch and seem to be impotent. No reason for all the scenes. No connections between characters. A story that gets worse as you watch. Directed as in the 70's but set today.

Generally I enjoy Harlan Coben's books. He is an American. Yet every book they turn into a mini series is generally foreign and are dubbed with English. Secondly they are pretty poorly done, this one is no exception. I don't get why an author of such renown allow his books to be portrayed in this way. This one is pretty violent and many of the actors are heavily tattooed . What is it with all the tattoos? Although I watched the complete series I found it pretty unconvincing and the plot had a lot of holes in it. This will be the last series based on one of Harlan Coben's books that I will watch.

Wanted to like this but as others have said there are a lot of plot holes and a lot of weird choices by characters. I think the actors are mostly good but the material they are given just isn't great.

Maybe Harlan Coben series are just getting churned out too fast, the books seem more believable and logical. The mystery is there and the pieces start to fall into place but they seem a little forced, like no character really seems to know what they are doing or how to react to events. It's hard to root for any of them. I'm giving it a 6 because I did finish it so I guess it was enough that I wanted to see the resolution. Slow burn.