Gracepoint

All I have to say is that David Tennant with an American accent is the least intimidating thing I've ever heard. I was way more scared when he would yell on Broadchurch. But him saying "WHO CALLED THE REPORTER" in Gracepoint? just makes me laugh. Like ok David you tried. Lol. You sound like Michael Scott

As a standalone show it was pretty good but here's the problem - it was pretty much lifted from the original Broadchurch - shot for shot and identical dialogue so writing the screenplay would have been a virtual copy and paste. So obviously you have to rate this a little lower. Tennant was excellent as always but the accent did slip a few times. The female lead is not a patch on Olivia Colman (but who is?). The big advantages were the lovely Alisen Down (I just want to give her a hug every time I see her) and obviously the absence of Lenny Henry is a massive plus. It was a shame that everyone who has seen Broadchurch would be dismissing all the red herrings straight away and - maybe if they changed the killer from the original would have got it a 9 rating.

I get why they wanted to make an American remake of the fantastic Broadchurch. I really do. But they were so concerned with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Inferior in every possible way, Gracepoint lacks all the charm, character and brooding of the original. On paper, the cast is fantastic - Michael Peña, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte, and a returning David Tennant. But the performances are so flat compared to the stirring emotional turns from Broadchurch. I think Anna Gunn has it worst of all. She's a great actor and I've loved her in Breaking Bad and Deadwood. But she's no Olivia Colman, and her Ellie Miller falls so flat and feels so two-dimensional. Maybe if I hadn't seen Broadchurch first, I'd have thought differently. But Olivia Colman's Miller was so raw and biting and wonderfully flawed that Gunn's performance seems a mere shadow in comparison.

David Tennant returning in the same role (albeit, with a different name) was surprising. It was jarring to hear much-loved lines from Broadchurch delivered with a (not always great) American accent. He is still amazing in the role, but it just didn't ring as true in Gracepoint as it did in Broadchurch.

If you haven't seen Broadchurch, give this one a go. If you have, maybe skip this as it pales significantly in comparison.

I won't list the differences between this and Broadchurch, as others have already done so on the Gracepoint IMDb page, but these are all, by my estimation, quite minor. The new or enhanced backpacker and the priest story lines were of some little interest, but ultimately didn't contribute much. (Particularly when you realize that the 2 additional episodes you get in the USA version vs. the UK version were meant to have existed before, and the Brits cut them for cost; meaning, these aren't a new addition, just a restoration.) Even the big ending 'whodunit' twist that was advertised, to my mind just came too late to do much other than fall flat, in terms of storytelling.

I liked the actors that played the priest and Beth well enough, and the daughter and her boyfriend were perfectly tolerable, but otherwise I found the acting to be painfully wooden---particularly Ellie Miller's character... and even my much beloved David Tennant. Maybe he was just too focused on the American accent to act as well as he is able, but side by side, the Broadchurch performance was nuanced and powerful, and this one felt more like a rote recitation of lines. I just don't understand all the positive reviews of people who've seen both.

I almost NEVER have totally negative things to say about TV shows or movies; I can always find something worth seeing, but this? Flat, stiff, bland. The soundtrack was pleasing. Er, the whales were nice. My recommendation is to give this a pass entirely, and watch Broadchurch instead. And remember, that's two series' long, so you get the crime solving and the trial, which was amazing in its own right.

I understand that many folks are staying away from the show because they are upset that FOX has made a mirror image of a highly regarded series, seemingly merely for the fact that it was "too British" for American audiences.. But as my cable option only added BBCAmerica half way through the network's broadcast of "Broadchurch" I have waited with baited breath for the "Gracepoint" and the very talented David Tennant to arrive on my screen. I was not disappointed. I urge folks to judge "Gracepoint" on its own merits. Yes, it was wrong for FOX do to what it did. But even if "Gracepoint" is a pale imitation of the original, it still is vastly superior to most USA fare. It pains me to think that drivel such as "Scorpion" becomes a hit with U.S. audiences while intelligent dramas such as "Gracepoint" flounder.