Back in the 90's there was an appalling version of Riders by Jilly Cooper, since then TV had avoided her 'bonkbusters' the critics feeling that Jilly Cooper novels were outdated and silly. That's far from the truth, Cooper satires the upper middle classes of the Cotswolds with an iron wit and has always understood comedy, character and fun plots. In many ways her work has been more akin to Restoration Comedy than Carry On with characters having more development and more inner life than you'd expect.
Now from Disney comes RIVALS boasting a stellar cast and the good news is that it's a great watch, yes it's full of naughty moments and boobs and bums, even the occasional Willy. The triumph of it though is that it has the budget and it has the time to do justice to the feel and spirit of the original book. The changes are minor and actually open out the period and the politics more.
Bella Maclean is brilliant in the central role of Tagie and Alex Hassel makes a great job of Rupert, a role that is impossible to cast because nobody in history can be the character that Cooper created - part villain, part Adonis, part whimpering child. He makes a really creditable job.
The real star of this though is the ensemble of great character actors Emily Atack, Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson all putting in career best performances.
The 80's soundtrack is on point throughout and makes Rivals a real triumph for Disney. It's fun, it's frothy but there is a deeper undertow that raises it above a hallmark movie and offers the hope that we will see much more from this team and this universe in the future.
Really liked it.
