Losing Gemma

I have read this book a few times and each time i found it hard to put down because of its utter brilliance!! How disappointed I was when i excitedly sat down to watch it on t.v. I have never seen such a load of rubbish. The acting in it was just terrible, card board cut outs could have done a better job, the characters were all wrong and the story line was completely different to the actual book. What a terrible, terrible mistake they made, sticking to the actual story would have done them the world of good although still the acting would have been poor. What a waste of time watching that was and i strongly advise that if you have read the book DO NOT WATCH THE TV MOVIE!!!!!

Why bother writing about such an obvious pile of crap? I consider my down time to be very valuable and as such am affronted by such made-for-TV tat eating up precious hours of my life.

It opened promisingly: the independent, inexplicably moody girl looking out for ditsy blonde on their big trip to the subcontinent as blonde gets the girls into more trouble than they bargained for. Mysterious fellow befriending them but turning out to be quite sinister. Even when the chick turns up dead there are possibilities for a Bangkok Hilton-type nail-biter, but no such luck: the acting is *woeful*, the characters bounce around in a series of inexplicable and unrelated incidents, the plot has more holes than a colander and the ending...

If, like me, you find yourself in front of the TV one night wondering whether to bother staying up for the end, I'm here to save you the agony. It really, really, really isn't worth it. The ending could only be less satisfying if it involved a sing-along in cowboy costumes. What a waste of a gorgeous set and a perfect opportunity to produce something decent. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I was surprised to see such low ratings for this ITV drama. While not brilliant it is not at all bad. When two tourists meet creepy Zac, played brilliantly by Jason Flemyng, I thought another 'Bankok Hilton' type drama was to unfold. Well, although a prison did feature in a small way the story went down a different road. Alice Eve as sensible Esther and Rachel Leskovac as the ditzy blonde both played their parts well leading to a decently entertaining couple of hours.

I think people that reviewed this, missed the subtleties of it. Aplit into two parts, Part one conjures up the illusion, drives you up an alley, whereas the second delivers the knockout. You think you're aware of what's happening, and know the facts of the events, but of course there's the twist.

The acting is terrific, Jason Flemyng and Alice Eve stand out, but it's the brilliant performance from Rachel Leskovac that stands out, she was fantastic throughout.

It reminded me a little bit of Carla, with Helen McCrory, out a similar sort of time. I wish these type of dramas, we only seem to get six and eight parters.

I enjoyed it very much. 8/10

The plot is simple enough - two vulnerable girl backpackers, a sensible brunette and a dizzy blonde, find themselves unlikely companions on a trip to India. Part 1 is genuinely unsettling as they get involved with a couple of seemingly friendly strangers who lead them into weird situations and events spiral rapidly out of control with one of the girls ending up on a murder rap. You will feel compelled to watch the second part just to see how they get out of the mess. Part 2 is more 'whodunnit' and amateur detective work and the twist at the end you will probably see coming a mile off but it is a genuinely compelling piece of work. The location shooting is beautifully done (in India of course) and together with the superb acting (especially of the two girl leads) it gives an added sense of realism and believability. This is definitely a cut above the average formula drama thriller you see on TV these days. My only gripe is with the inevitable (or perhaps compulsory) sex scene. When the two lovers(?) finally prise themselves apart after much huffing and puffing the girl is still wearing her bra - highly unlikely in the circumstances, especially in that hot and sultry climate. OK if the young actress doesn't want to expose herself on prime time TV that's fine by me but surely it would have been better to use a different camera angle or just cut the scene short. We all knew what was going to happen. But I'm being picky - watch it and enjoy.