claude6543

I was expecting insights in the history of occupied Belgium. Instead, I was treated to a study in character: that of a skinny weak-kneed weakling with not one micron of magnetism, let alone credibility as a police officer. My reaction upon first seeing him; how can this 30-kg pansy be a cop? He must have been raised on turnips. He does fight like a vegetarian. Why, surely he flies away at the lightest breeze. Thieves and miscreants will fold him into a paper plane. Or put him in an en envelope and mail him back to the two-dimensional wimp factory. And that constant look of fear in his eyes. He must be an habitual trouser-soiler. Nobody would associate him with heroism. Why, he wouldn't even be brave enough to serve ice cream. The other characters don't fare much better, especially his "girlfriend", who tries to project sexy but only triggers projectile vomiting. Whoever cast this movie needs new glasses and a new brain.

I am a big fan of Olivier Marchal. Over the years, I have thoroughly enjoyed his many movies and TV series - they rank among the best in a genre in which the French excell: crime drama. Unfortunately, Blood Coast does not live up to expectations. The plot is unimaginative, a rehash of a story told so many times before. The actors are for the most part wooden and underwhelming. The characters are universally unlikeable and make the dumbest decisions. Swearing, while expected and welcome in such a show, is just overboard and detrimental to storytelling - every conversation turns into in-your-face, profanity-laced slang mumbo jumbo. The "music" is particularly grating - very little sucks as much as French rap. And the ending feels like a slowly deflating balloon. Total miss.

One more thing. Throughout, I kept thinking that these idiots are so fortunate to live in the south of France, a real paradise, and yet they choose to live like gangstas in run down ghettos. Fools.

Why, why do they always insist on having one teen character who is continuously angry and acts irrationally? It has *never* done any TV show any good. Zoe Saldana's daughter is full-on stereotype, all the sorry-arse angry teenager tropes bundled in one character. One minute you are watching a show about secret operatives in the Middle East, the next you are subjected to never-ending scenes of family turmoil caused by one selfish teenager that *no one in the world cares about*.

My advice: fast forward all the scenes where she appears. They add absolutely nothing - zip - nada - zilch to the storyline. Skipping them will do wonders for your blood pressure.