Public Enemies

Despite decent acting performances from the two leads (Mays and Friel) the story went way past its sell by date and I found it tedious. The three part mini series was way to long. I got bored and also didnt care by the end.

Most crime dramas don't concentrate on the aftermath of a prison sentence so this was interesting. All his life is reported back ( ironic that now people do this voluntarily on social media). The pressure cooker of his mental state must be like a form of PTSD. Maybe why anyone institutionalised ( armed forces for one) struggles so much. Eddie is atypical it would seem.

Daniel Mays as Eddie is believable which shows acting chops. Anna Friel as Paula the probation officer plays Anna Friel in every role. She typecasts herself or would seem to at least. I have no idea what the fascination is with her as an actress. Support cast are a superb troupe. Showing the top billed a lesson or two. The drama unfolds quite slowly and the resolution takes just a few minutes at the end, as it is in real life. Not necessarily what we want when being entertained? We want, as an audience, to have some payback for the time invested in the story perhaps. As in life, you don't always get what you want. Proof here (though it is resolved). Appreciating simple things again, as Eddie does, could be a lesson for us all.

Enjoyable but a rather implausible plot and ending. Mays and Friel carry it though and it's about the right length. Any longer and it would have suffered.

Worth watching for the leafs performances.

I saw the reference to objections raised by the Crown's parole staff to improbable plot elements in this story. Be that as it may, this short series is convincing and well-done, whether or not it's an accurate reflection of the reality of probation and parole in the UK. The acting and directing are very good. Right up to the last 15 minutes, when all reality flies completely out the window. So I can recommend it for the quality of the production, characterization, acting, all that. but watch the clock and switch off the telly 15 minutes before it ends, to avoid bursting into howls of derisive laughter at the last scenes. I won't spoil it, because right up to that point it really is well-done.

i checked out the IMDb rating on this series before i watched it and was in two minds whether to bother with a 6.6 rated show. I must have had my 'lucky mind' in gear, as i decided to give the first episode a go. 3 parts in and i cannot believe that this series has such a low score. the acting is top drawer. Daniel is, as ever, very good indeed. The subject matter is raw, gritty and so very rarely touched upon; the post prison trials and tribulations of a man convicted of the most serious of all crimes. I really got to feel the heartache of a lost man, even before the storyline tells us that he claims he is innocent. I'm not a proper critic and don't even have the right terminology to express myself on this site, but this series is well worth anyone's time, even if it's only to appreciate some very good acting.