mathmaniac

This detective, Mike Shepherd, dresses without the rumpled look of a Colombo. His inquisitive brain is not constantly mulling over impressions that will lead to discovery of the motive and method of a criminal. He works with two other people always - a young woman, Detective Sims, and a young man, Detective Breen. This combination of partners works very well. 'Collaborative' applies to their style.

It's not that they are brilliant. It's not that they are so energetic that they would put any ordinary crew to shame. It's that they go to work - and just work. They do the job, slogging along through trivia sometimes, always following the same playbook, getting along on the job and leaving the job at night to return to their ordinary lives. Those lives we can only guess about: we don't see much, if anything, of the interiors where they live. They don't hang together like city cops in big cities, and they don't clash. There is no stressful tension between Sims and Shepherd. Breen is married, and this is almost a footnote. His wife Roxy likes to play Xbox, this we know. We don't really need to know anything more.

Detective Shepherd has been married a few times. He may encounter attractive women on the job, appreciate their looks, and notice when they flirt with him, but it doesn't spark interest because that private life he leads outside of work is just that - private. Sims is not sizing him up with interest; it takes a while for her to warm up to an attractive young man in town who courts her for awhile with chess dates (when he says, 'Care to come inside for a quickie?' she knows he means a chess game in the middle of the day - no coy looks, no winks, just trust that they can take their time to get to know each other).

I enjoy this mystery series so much because the people who work together like each other and their work. They don't rely on each other for anything other than work, because the days spent at work together are so busy and challenging. Mike Shepherd likes his old car and his country music. No one else has to like those things, but it's not important! They hardly define him. The detectives have guns but they don't wear them or pull them out like power accessories. Brokenwood is a small town. Characters who are 'larger than life' would be out of place. Prepare to relax and feel the slow pace of that life. There's still plenty of money, plenty of style, and plenty of crime!

Gina, the Russian medical examiner, is one of my favorite characters. She, too, likes her work. She is friendly and not seductive but instead, likeable and entertaining. Her constant references to Russia and the Russian 'take' on life, values, and style, are really funny.

When I gave away my videocassettes, 'My Family' was included in that lot. I recently bought the DVD just so I can watch this film again, with all its crises and dramas and romances. That's what life is all about! Few people have a bland existence in which their only stresses are financial. Love and family loyalty intrude!

There's no use comparing this to a Godfather-type saga. Apples and oranges. But: there are so many surprises and developments as the generations grow up and go out into the world. Some violent. Some beautiful.

Jimmy Smits did a wonderful job in this movie. He's got the acting chops and he's smart enough NOT to show everything on his face, when so much must be held inside. Yet, the emotion seeps out gently and it's sweet, tender, and quite moving.

There is just one thing to emphasize about this television series - and a good reason to watch it: this is a musical. It's also a kind of Australian eye-candy, taking place on a fabulous estate in the country. The actors are talented, handsome and beautiful.The costumes are lovely. The plot? Who cares. when you have all this together on the screen.

Amazon has somehow mismatched the reviews and ratings for this series. I don't know how seriously this impacts viewership; however, the production deserves viewers based on its merits. I think it's a wonderful thing to view, if you enjoy musical comedy. If not a fan of musical comedies, you will not stay with it.