Manhunt

I don't know much about this historical event which is why I'm not picking apart the historical inaccuracies like many reviewers but I do know a lot about horse drawn vehicles and noticed a few mistakes like driving on the wrong sides of the road and using the wrong type vehicle for the weather and occasion but other than that I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I can't understand why so many people are criticizing the casting. I find it interesting because instead of choosing actors who might "suit" the characters better, they seemed to have purposefully avoided those stereotypes allowing the characters to be much more human and easy to empathize with. Great costumes!! As for the dialogue, once again, it is more contemporary but allows us to relate to the story instead of being distracted but the unfamiliar speech patterns and mid 19th century vocabulary.

Despite the poor ratings from some I watched show with an open mind and was suitably rewarded

Very good acting in main . Perhaps upping pace at times could have reduced show to fewer episodes? Stopped me giving it perhaps another star

It took awhile to get accustomed to time switches but generally found them illuminating

Decent sets, costumes and settings - not sure why some reviewers are upset about beards though - surely a minor irritation at best

Also I can't understand preoccupation of some reviewers with moaning about casting as I found all characters relatable with good acting from all

Tobias Menzies and Anthony Boyle in particular are always watchable and the scenes they are involved in are usually the best of show

I also found the involvement of Reconstruction issues interesting and worthwhile as an English viewer as it wasn't something I was as aware of from across the pond.

As a historical drama with probably some minor inaccuracies ( as all are bound to have) I found the show to be far better than the negative off-putting reviews would have you believe.

I consequently found myself wondering was there not another agenda at play here?

I read the book the show is based on, and though there are some questionable casting decisions made, particularly Lincoln, I'll continue watching.

Tobias Menzies is always excellent, and though he's portrayed as the Melvin Purvis of the hunt, I'm fine with that choice for artistic reasoning. Lili Taylor is good, though of course most of us continue to see Sally Field and DDL as Mary Todd and Lincoln. Anthony Boyle is doing well with the loathsome Booth, and I like the actress portraying Mary. I'm a little baffled by Patton Oswalt here, though I like him in other things. Lincoln, though, was the truly odd choice. It looked like his chest was waxed in one of the death scenes, lol. The voice was so grating that i looked forward to his coming end, which is really not the way I want to feel about an Abe portrayal.

Costumes, set design are very well done and I look forward to the rest of the series, despite some odd choices.

Man, this show about tracking down Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth was kind of a snoozefest. You'd think with such a dramatic historical event as the backdrop, they could've cooked up a more exciting cat-and-mouse chase. But instead, Manhunt feels super drawn out and sluggish.

If you're a hardcore history buff who geeks out on the Lincoln assassination, maybe you'll like all the period minutiae. For the rest of us, Manhunt is just a plodding, tedious missed opportunity to really dramatize and modernize this famous pursuit for the TV audience. Not the worst show ever, but definitely a bit of a snoozer.

Menzies, as always, is excellent, as are most of the cast. But as much as I love Patton Oswalt, he isn't well suited to a historical drama. A couple of other minor character actors similarly detracted.

Many of the expressions used in the writing ("consider me Switzerland," "don't get me wrong," as just two examples) and open discussion of a homosexual relationship in court were wholly out of place for a dramatization of historical events from the 1860s. I found it distracting, and fairly surprising that a production of this caliber hadn't had a better copy editor.

Side note: great costuming.