Palomas Negras

Black Doves is an entertaining spy thriller that delivers plenty of style and intrigue, even if it doesn't quite hit the mark or reach its full potential. It's great to see Keira Knightley take on something different, stepping outside her usual characters, and she brings charisma and edge to the role. The series has some genuinely funny moments and a sleek, polished look, but it does ask you to suspend disbelief, a lot, sometimes too much.

The conveniently empty London streets and mass shootouts stretch credibility to breaking point, making it hard to take seriously at times. But if you're after a bit of silly, stylish entertainment with a strong lead performance and some gripping sequences, Black Doves does the job just fine.

One of my chief, and constant, criticisms of so many films now, is the lack of solid and consistent scripts, AND marred by horrible musical tracks and pathetic sound mixing. So I start this by saying that it was a real pleasure to discover a whole SERIES with no glitches or distractions in sound. As for the script and plot, as one reviewer here put it: "Ok if you don't think too hard. Good acting. Lazy writing. Plot holes you can drive a truck through." I wold add- high marks for the humor built in and subtlety of some great lines such as: "Sorry" as the store-clerk is knocked out with drugs. Very fine acting and production throughout, but too many holes and dead spots to carry the overall. Would love to see a continuation with more talented scripting.

I was set to jot down a few words about "Black Doves", the Netflix spy thriller starring Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, and Sarah Lancashire, three actors I adore, when a conversation with a friend helped crystallize my thoughts (and subsequently cannibalize his). He described it as "fun and entertaining, but the emotional, realistic aspects of the story didn't work harmoniously with the unrealistic action," and that's a perfect summary. I may have enjoyed it a bit more than he did, but there's no denying the tonal discord. It probably would have played better back in December when it dropped, given its Christmas setting. That said, it was worth it by the end when comic goddess and legend, Tracey Ullman, appears as the villain, looking and sounding divine.

It's one of those common entertainments where you can't really criticise the acting and the production values are pretty much flawless. It starts off really well. You think you are about to be absorbed and seduced by a complex spy thriller. But John Le Carre it is not. Instead you soon realise that it's neither serious nor funny. As is so often the case these days it's the paucity of the story that is the problem. It has quirky characters and indeed characters with all the charm and conversational wit one expects of psychopaths. They could be related to Eve from Killing Eve but these are poor cousins and don't really add up well on the scale of DNA psychopath inheritance. It's a comic book caricature of a spy thriller with a storyline that relies on a thin plot and frequent action scenes to fill the spaces. Sadly disappointing, it could have been really good.

I just finished watching Black Doves and want to see more. Black Doves currently has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes so it's obviously a hit with both critics and the audience. It stars Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sara Lancashire. All 3 and the rest of the cast were all terrific. I won't be surprised to see this show get nominated for multiple awards come award season. It has plenty of action, drama, comedy and twists and turns to entertain everyone. There are so many spy shows and some especially great ones this year so you have to be good enough to stick out of you want people to notice and Black Doves definitely does that. It's a must watch for any fan of spy series.