Acceptable Risk

Disclaimer - I only watched 2 episodes. Then I bailed.

Lots of little things add up to a poor series. Some bad acting (Canadian Detective, 2nd husband), obvious villain's (Pharma head), and some low budget constraints perhaps (both Canadian and Irish detectives working solo without partners). Elaine Cassidy knows literally nothing personal about her husband, and he was just murdered and she shows almost no grief (I know- she was just holding it in).

I'm a stickler for good research and continuity. I got off to a bad start with the scenes in Ireland being in early fall and the ones in Montreal (supposedly happening at the same time) being in freezing cold February. When production errors like that happen, it's distracting and I find I simply can't get fully absorbed into the plot.

And could they not find a francophone actor to play the Montreal police Detective Dusquene? Instead, they chose Alberta-born Geordie Johnson, who I'm sure, could at least have uttered a few words of French now and then to give him some credibility.

At best, the acting is OK, but maybe I was spoiled from just finishing the amazing Night Sky, with Sissy Spacek and J. K. Simmons.

I made it to the end, which is something. But without the above glaring issues, I would have rated it much higher.

The first episode of this Irish TV show gives very little indication of where it is going. It begins slowly with a family tragedy, the random murder of Sarah Manning's husband, Lee, in Montreal.

The series shifts its focus to the investigation of Lee's murder, which draws covert international interest. Sarah takes a central role in the investigation. She and the others involved face constant obstacles in their search for truth and justice as the investigation leads them ever deeper into a web of intrigue and corruption. I could not stop watching it until I had reached the conclusion.

This series is unusual in that most of the main characters are strong women who have found success in tough, male-dominated professions.

This was utterly painful to watch. The worst part was the horrible speech patterns of "Dr Hoffman" and the detective guy from Canada, which is weird since he actually IS Canadian. Siri on my phone has a more natural diction than these two. Also why are the FBI operating abroad? Makes no sense. Its slow and likely could have been done just as well (badly) in 3 episodes. I don't usually expect great stuff out of Canada (I'm Canadian) but had higher hopes for Ireland/Europe.

I do not regret the decision to spend the time of the six episodes in the company of the Irish mini-series 'Acceptable Risk' (2017) written by Ron Hutchinson and directed by Kenneth Glenaan and hristian Langlois. One of the reasons is that the story takes place in Dublin, a city I love and whose combination of traditional architecture with the futuristic atmosphere facilitated by the Irish high-tech explosion of the last few decades seems to me very suitable as a background for a crime thriller that takes place in the world of big and dangerous business (specifically that of the pharmaceutical industry) with reverberations in politics. My expectations were not disappointed. Without being a masterpiece or excelling in originality or violence, 'Acceptable Risk' has a complex and interesting plot and proposes a gallery of characters (almost all women) that we start to care about as the action progresses.

The first of the six series begins with the description of a murder in Montreal. As spectators we see as much as we are allowed, so that the atmosphere of 'whodunit' is created from the beginning. The victim is a marketing director of a concern based in Ireland. His wife, Sarah Manning, with whom he had spoken on the phone minutes before the murder, will become the main character of the story. Before long, Sarah will discover that she knows very little about the man she has lived with for many years. Tim Manning had been a CIA agent, and his assignments within the pharmaceutical concern included suspicious and dangerous contacts with politicians and influential people around the planet. Sarah, herself a lawyer and former employee of the firm, will be helped by an honest policewoman who is ready to risk her career to find out the truth, and by her sister, a woman who also hides some secrets in her biography and who entertains a very different lifestyle from the one of the recent widow left with two children to care for In a short time, the three women will realize that between them and the truth are not only the interests of the big pharma company, but also Irish political pressure, FBI and Canadian police investigations, and the activities of the American and German secret services. The story takes place in Dublin, but the implications are international.

The story is well written, the tempo is alert, something interesting and often unexpected is constantly happening. We can criticize the narrative by claiming that the sequence of events seems a little too complicated and that too many of the characters disappear to violent deaths before we have been given enough time to get to know them. This is offset by the excellent characterization of the main characters and the way their relationships unfold and progress with the investigation. Irish actress Elaine Cassidy holds the title role. I was not very excited by her performance, it seemed to me that in some places she was repeating herself and in others she was exaggerating the drama. Angeline Ball, on the other hand, creates the character of an intelligent and empathetic detective, and I would not be sorry at all if she became the heroine of a series that extends over several seasons. I also thought that Lisa Dwyer Hogg was very good, in the role of the sister who will prove to be more than just a member of the family. This triplet of characters confronting the political, police and espionage systems of multiple governments in their quest to learn the truth infuses a strong and authentic feminist message to the action. Danish actor Morten Suurballe plays the interesting role of the head of the pharmaceutical concern. We suspect from the beginning a villain behind his imposing and charismatic figure, and perhaps if the writers had provided more details about his biography and motivations, the story would have been even more complex and interesting. The finale solves the mystery of the crime and somewhat does justice, but some things will have to remain forgotten, and the world looks like it will continue with the same tricks of corruption. 'Acceptable Risk' is one of the good thriller series I've seen lately and I recommend it.