Exile

I really don't have the words to express how much I enjoyed this superbly written, plotted and acted mini series. It resonated strongly and, having nursed dementia sufferers for 10 plus years, struck all the right notes. I was very engaged throughout and recommend it to all.

Exile is a story about returning to your hometown to find that little has changed. It focuses on the father-son relationship between Sam (Jim Broadbent),and Tom Ronstadt (John Simm), and also Nancy (Olivia Coleman, who is tired of caring for her elderly father on her own.There's so much frustration and anger in Tom's character who is unable to understand why his father treated him like he did in the past, and with Sam's Alzheimer's it becomes a real mystery with little pieces of the past being gradually released throughout the three episodes.

What I love about this show is that even with all the angst and tension there is some great humour and heartwarming moments.

This is a high quality, dark psychological drama, with the odd blackly comic moment thrown in, and well worth spending 3 hours on. It's beautifully shot with some stunning locations, and the performances of John Simm, Jim Broadbent and Olivia Coleman (particulary John Simm) are utterly compelling.

John Simm's character, Tom, spectacularly messes up his life and career as a journalist in London, and goes back home to Lancashire. He finds his retired journalist dad, whom he idolised as a child, to be suffering from dementia and being cared for by his sister. It turns out he had a sudden, violent and catastrophic falling-out with his dad many years ago which led to him fleeing to London, and now he is back home he becomes determined to get to the bottom of what happened to cause the fall-out. This proves more complicated that he thought, mainly due to his dad's mental capacity - however by the end, he does manage to piece the devastating truth together, and as with all the characters John Simm plays in such a believable, 'everyman' way, we root for him the whole time, even though his character is not saintly by any means.

My only beef with this would be that the script and plot do contain some real clichéd moments, and you do have to suspend a bit of disbelief about how relatively easy it is for Tom to locate some of the key characters and certain bits of information about the past. That being said, it's the excellence of the actors' performances that totally clinch this for me.

If, like me, you're a fan of Mr Simm, you will not be disappointed in this.

In this unique tale of a man whom has fallen from the graces of high flying London, comes a story of one man's endeavour to uncover the truths surrounding his native hometown and the circumstances that forces him to leave and become a different man. After spending the majority of his life running from his past Tom Ronstadt (John Simm), decides that running is no longer an option. This story highlights some very true realities surrounding Alzheimer's disease and the heartache that families must deal with in regards to those effected. Spanning from personal experience Jim Broadbent plays the character affected with pin-point accuracy and gives the character more edge than has ever been seen with his more lovable characters. Simm does also not disappoint with his new break from typecasting, his take on the washed out son is more intense than we have seen of him in a long time. This truly is a piece of gritty drama that will define the year.

As a directional country in creating versatile crime dramas, the UK has contributed and will contribute so many quality stuff than one is bound to start selecting and comparing, based on taste, habits and many other factors. Here, in Exile, the biggest value for me were 2 leading performances - Tom Ronstadt (John Simm) and Sam Ronstadt (Jim Broadbent) - whose versatility and switching ironed out some clichés and over-sophistication in the plot. I have discovered the talent of both Simm and Broadbent long time ago, but it is still please to ascertain that they have not confined themselves to comparable characters and roles approach.

As for the plot, some scenes seemed excessive, some supporting character changes weird, plus it was difficult to follow the events in different periods at times. Neverthess, Exile is another work of quality, excelling most counterparts created e.g. in the US or Australia. Unless you have painful personal experience with Alzheimer's disease, this miniseries is definitely a pleasant spending of ca 3 hours.