Nove perfetti sconosciuti

Great premise, beautiful cinematography, terrific cast. Too bad the plot falls flat towards the end. And the last five minutes are just stupid. Too bad, because it started pretty strong. But then it just lost steam and eventually got ridiculous. To the point that I only gave it six stars and I am being extremely generous.

Now the big question is, why do we need to write six hundred characters to comment on imdb? I have read actual film reviews by real film critics that were shorter than that. I think three hundred words would have been just fine, without risking spoiling anything for people who reads it.

No spoilers just commentary.

A very intriguing tale of lives. The most important thing to me is there isn't one bit of filler in this series, every minute and moment adds something interesting. Each character has their story, their secrets and their vices. As the show progresses and unfolds, the more info is divulged and unraveled, a surreal turn of events makes itself known.

The cinematography and visuals are glorious, views are breathtaking. The contrast of the setting to the unraveling characters.

The fruit smoothies look delicious.

The Russian host (Nicole Kidman) has no need to be Russian, it adds nothing to the plot, and doesn't sound Russian, I am not sure why there needs to be an exotic host from somewhere that isn't the US.. it ends up sounding like a faux, generic European accent and it is annoying. She is very interesting without it, is the perfect ring leader of the ragtag group.

It's hard to not be absorbed in this fascinating, riveting, and captivating series.

Update. My initial review was about half way through the series. After watching the end it's definitely slower as far as pacing goes. Also Nicole Kidman is incredibly hard to watch in this just as she usually is in everything. The bad accent makes it worse.

The momentum just falls off a bit, maybe could have been shortened by an episode? It's worth the watch but it's not groundbreaking by any means.

The storyline was muddy and the point of the story only became clear in the last episode. Melissa McCarthy was the shining star. The relevance of Masha having a Russian accent was unclear, but the accent wasn't convincing and didn't further this confusing story. Nicole Kidman could have benefitted from a dialect coach.

Ok, obviously I haven't finished the series so there are no spoilers here.

But this show is the one that really sealed in Michael Shannon's incredible range for me. It's astounding how much different he can be from his bad guy persona or his mafia/crime boss characters. Honestly, he makes the whole show for me. I can't believe it's the same guy.

I'm sure the other actors are absolutely killing it. I think Melissa McCartney is also showing some range but Michael Shannon just dominates the screen for me.

Worth watching.

If you liked Big Little Lies and were waiting for something similar let me tell you this show has the perfect ingredients.

Based on a book by the same author, check.

David E. Kelly behind the project, check.

Nicole Kidman as the lead, check.

What else do you need. Just put your trust in these talented people, sit back and wait to be entertained.