The Fear Index

But instead of Jason Statham we have Josh Harnett running around like a headless chicken having an episode. It's weird too with cannibalism. Non of the side characters are remotely interesting. The story did not pay off in the end and I regret watching it.

The production has had some money spent on it so we get great houses and shots of Geneva with the water jet. Just like the start of the Champions.

The story starts a bit slowly with the initial scenes feeling wooden and contrived. Really, Hoffmans briefing to investors should have been the opening scene. Because I was waiting for the exposition for far too long.

The supporting actors, just didn't have much to work with. As a result the cop's interest in Hoffman is not explained. There is no reason for it. Quite the contrary. He has other work to do.

The story just plods along. Frankly I didn't care enough to stick with it.

I forgot how much I loved Josh Harnett- greatly missed and underrated actor.

I hope and wish he'd get more roles befitting his fine stage presence...

Strongly recommend seeing this and Lucky Number Slevib - Hartlett is untapped talent...

If you wish to see a man got tense and frustrated, look like a moron over all 4 episodes; then try watching this. The man looked confused throughout over univariated thing which make it less than interesting. Kinda too bad, that a story with such a good promise, went into brainless dribble.

Another short self-contained box set series, and The Fear Index is an adaption from a curious modern financial thriller.

From the off, I have previously read the novel by the ever reliable Robert Harris but it was many years ago and I have to admit I found that I'd forgotten much of what had happened. Nevertheless I have a certain bias as I did enjoy the book and noticed some differences but not necessarily enough to derail this.

Despite that, I was kind of disappointed. There's no denying the authenticity of the settings and look of the show but it's TV drama, and the actors chosen for the roles just did not convince me they fitted the parts. With all due respect some of them were clearly in over their heads in this one, in particular the wife and the business partner.

The storyline does move at a great pace but really they struggled to capture the tension, and I don't want to give away anything so have to stop there.

It's a shame. I get the feeling this would have made a better 2 hour film in the hands of a seasoned director with a bigger budget. It worked brilliantly with the Ghost Writer which was another book by the same author with Brosnan & McGregor in the lead roles.

This is disappointing. Not by any means unwatchable, but in my opinion a really missed opportunity.