Cape Town

Based on Deon Meyer's novel "Dead before Dying", this series should have had enough going for it to come out tops. Unfortunately due to a rather disastrous screen-play and some extremely amateur acting it has become a prime belly flopper. The two actors in the main roles are Norwegian and Austrian. Both attempt to imitate South African accents (and very red-necked ones too). Kodjoe is probably more successful but Seim never manages to get rid of his Norwegian accent and his line about growing up in Goodwood was just not credible. Both of them seemed to be in the wrong country, wrong series. And that is where the credibility issue of this series begins and falls. Continuity in the camera work was another problem. Constant interpolation of random shots of areas in and around Cape Town were constantly thrown in for no reason and only served to make this confused screen-play even more nonsensical. Most of the South African acting is awfully staid and artificial (the embarrassing scene with the neighbors commenting on Drew Wilson's homosexuality was a typical example). Good camera work (Cape Town is always wonderful to look at) but the screen play is confused, drawn out and suspense is almost non-existent.

An enjoyable "who-done-it" series with a range of plots and sub plots to make the story interesting. Pity about the very poor South African accents by Boris Kodjoe (Santus Snook) and Trond Espen Seim (Mat Joubert). Often I could not understand what they were saying. South Africa is such a melting pot of accents, they could have easily woven their true accents into the ancestor of their characters leaving the audience with a more authentic experience. The local talent was most enjoyable and authentic in the range of characters found in South Africa. Deon Meyer writes entertaining stories that depict many aspects of South African life.

Cape Town has cleverly incorporates the tone and intrigue of Nordic noir and then drenches it in African light. The cinematography is gorgeous and the series stands up well against far more expensive Hollywood productions. Trond Espen Seims was well chosen as MAT Joubert despite the challenges of the South African accent and he deftly navigates the brutal physicality of the character in stark contrast to his internal turmoil and fragile emotional state. Cape Town's strength is in character detail and care has been taken in every supporting role. This is an ambitious series which gets stronger with each episode. Lovers of clever crime stories and intriguing characters will find much to enjoy.

As a huge fan of Scandinavian crime I came across this show starring Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. What struck me right away was the prototypical basic constellation I've seen so many times before in Swedish or Danish crime series: the broken and guilt-ridden investigator who has to delve into the past in order to not only solve his current case, but to restore his reputation and regain his original strength as a detective. This concept is neither new nor very exiting, but it works just fine. What sets this show apart from Scandinavian ones is the exotic and beautiful setting of Cape Town. DoP Florian Schilling does a great job photographing this dream destination. The actors' performance, however, is less convincing. I see why the creators chose Seim: in his physique, he just IS Mat Joubert. Sad, tired, out of shape – but charismatic. Unfortunately, his Norwegian accent is very obvious and I found it to be quite irritating. Boris Kodjoe, by contrast, masters the challenge of the foreign accent pretty well. Shame that his range as an actor is quite limited. Nevertheless, I'd recommend watching CAPE TOWN for its high production value, its unique atmosphere and its solid narrative.

There are some really terrible reviews for this series and I don't think it's at all bad. The story is good, acting ok without being memorable and locations/filming pretty good.

All in all definitely a 7 in my view. The comments about bad accents I simply don't understand. It's South Africa for god's sake. What do they expect ?!