anne-m-hudson

"Dangerous" Davies appears to be a loser in every aspect of his life, marital, professioional, and otherwise. However, he is exceptionally decent and appreciate the humanity of witnesses and suspects in his work as a police constable in the outskirts of London. He also has a stubborn knack for following the evidence of criminal acts wherever it leads him. His decency, which is supposedly his weakness, is also his strength. It's not the usual premise of cop shows, and it's a refreshing change from the usual fare.

Peter Davison brings intelligence and warmth to the lead role of Dangerous Davies--his kindness, his longing for his wife from whom he is separated, his relationship with his oddball friend Mod, his need to unravel the mysteries presented by the crimes he investigates, his complicated relatioship to his boss, who obviously relies on him all the while putting him down.

I expected a clever legal drama with bones of nostalgia occasionally thrown to those of us who remember Andy Griffith and the old CBS show, Matlock. I was thinking about Murder She Wrote with the always excellent Angela Lansbury and guest stars from TV and movies decades earlier.

Matlock's script is clever, dramatic and entertaining, but just when the joke of Mattie Matlock worming her way into Jacobson Moore to get evidence of their coverup of evidence that opioids cause death started to get old, there was a huge twist. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for Season 2.

Kathy Bates brings intelligence and depth to her portrayal of the mother who wants justice for her daughter and makes what would otherwise be a very good show a great one.

How did I not know about this film? It was hard to watch for about the first half , and I considered bailing more than once. The characters seem incapable of dealing with their pain and shoot themselves and each other in the foot over and over again. Then along comes a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet, and Dan, the troubled main character, is drawn to the community of oddballs in the theater group and the escape of being someone else in the midst of his horrific personal situation.

Katherine Mallen Kupferer gives a breakout performance as the antagonistic daughter, Daisy. Perhaps as a movie buff I should already know her work. She can sing, she can act, and as an actress she has great range. I look forward to seeing more of it.

The power of art to express loss and enable us to face it is on display here. It's a stunning film that deserves a wider audience.