Gracepoint

Broadchurch or Gracepoint? I'm sorry but I don't understand why this remake was necessary. Why bother? On the face of it, Gracepoint looks OK but - I say again, Why? Firstly, Broadchurch was faultless. It was probably the best drama of its kind. Ever. Why mess with perfection? Secondly, why oh why get David Tennant to do it all over again? They could at least have had the decency to let some American play the part instead of persuading Tennant to adopt an uncharacteristic American accent. (I also question David Tennant's sanity in accepting this role - money maybe). And for the record, Danny's father in this version is totally unconvincing and does not have the impact it should. Somehow, there is this inability for Americans to follow the 'Britishness' of the English language. What is that all about? We, in England, suffer American programmes on a daily basis (some very good / others really not so good) and we don't complain about it. We don't feel the need to make our own version of American programmes. We have the intelligence to decipher the Americans relentless ability to completely deconstruct the English language and what's more we put up with it. Strangely, we also have the ability to understand all of your distinctly odd dialects. If Americans would just get over themselves and watch the original Broadchurch, I'm sure they could not be anything other than moved and amazed by it. I watched the first episode of Gracepoint and decided there was no point in watching any more. Having seen Broadchurch I was not interested in seeing a different version to compare it to. People of America, do yourselves a favour - watch the original.

I won't list the differences between this and Broadchurch, as others have already done so on the Gracepoint IMDb page, but these are all, by my estimation, quite minor. The new or enhanced backpacker and the priest story lines were of some little interest, but ultimately didn't contribute much. (Particularly when you realize that the 2 additional episodes you get in the USA version vs. the UK version were meant to have existed before, and the Brits cut them for cost; meaning, these aren't a new addition, just a restoration.) Even the big ending 'whodunit' twist that was advertised, to my mind just came too late to do much other than fall flat, in terms of storytelling.

I liked the actors that played the priest and Beth well enough, and the daughter and her boyfriend were perfectly tolerable, but otherwise I found the acting to be painfully wooden---particularly Ellie Miller's character... and even my much beloved David Tennant. Maybe he was just too focused on the American accent to act as well as he is able, but side by side, the Broadchurch performance was nuanced and powerful, and this one felt more like a rote recitation of lines. I just don't understand all the positive reviews of people who've seen both.

I almost NEVER have totally negative things to say about TV shows or movies; I can always find something worth seeing, but this? Flat, stiff, bland. The soundtrack was pleasing. Er, the whales were nice. My recommendation is to give this a pass entirely, and watch Broadchurch instead. And remember, that's two series' long, so you get the crime solving and the trial, which was amazing in its own right.

I get why they wanted to make an American remake of the fantastic Broadchurch. I really do. But they were so concerned with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Inferior in every possible way, Gracepoint lacks all the charm, character and brooding of the original. On paper, the cast is fantastic - Michael Peña, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte, and a returning David Tennant. But the performances are so flat compared to the stirring emotional turns from Broadchurch. I think Anna Gunn has it worst of all. She's a great actor and I've loved her in Breaking Bad and Deadwood. But she's no Olivia Colman, and her Ellie Miller falls so flat and feels so two-dimensional. Maybe if I hadn't seen Broadchurch first, I'd have thought differently. But Olivia Colman's Miller was so raw and biting and wonderfully flawed that Gunn's performance seems a mere shadow in comparison.

David Tennant returning in the same role (albeit, with a different name) was surprising. It was jarring to hear much-loved lines from Broadchurch delivered with a (not always great) American accent. He is still amazing in the role, but it just didn't ring as true in Gracepoint as it did in Broadchurch.

If you haven't seen Broadchurch, give this one a go. If you have, maybe skip this as it pales significantly in comparison.

But watchable and entertaining if not a top-rate thriller with the acclaimed character range, complexity, atmosphere and acting chops Broadchurch brought to this genre. Then most shows touted as Broadchurch quality aren't.

David Tenant's detective is intentionally charmless and interpersonally challenged. His partner would be fired in real life for her sappy lack of professionalism as, though repeatedly warned, she keeps advocating for the family. And none of the lesser roles are very interesting.

Love the beachy town. Plot fairly involving. Nick Nolte does an entirely credible job playing an old geezer while the young journalists could be played by anybody nice looking.

I find it irritating, in reality too, that the family vs police theme revolves around their resentment at not being let inside all the investigative operations, thinking, discoveries. Police don't help because they refuse to explain exactly why total transparency is out of the question, their liason is equally ill-equipped to field family's frustration, and at times, detectives promise to keep them abreast when to do so risks undermining attempts to find the culprit and could jeopordize a future court case.

More than half way through I can't yet predict who done it though I can spot some red herrings.

If you are a Tennant fan and can suspend the obvious comparison to Broadchurch, by which this version is a hands-down impoverished relative, give Gracepoint a chance. Undemanding, rather bland fare, but not as awful as some critics claim.

As a standalone show it was pretty good but here's the problem - it was pretty much lifted from the original Broadchurch - shot for shot and identical dialogue so writing the screenplay would have been a virtual copy and paste. So obviously you have to rate this a little lower. Tennant was excellent as always but the accent did slip a few times. The female lead is not a patch on Olivia Colman (but who is?). The big advantages were the lovely Alisen Down (I just want to give her a hug every time I see her) and obviously the absence of Lenny Henry is a massive plus. It was a shame that everyone who has seen Broadchurch would be dismissing all the red herrings straight away and - maybe if they changed the killer from the original would have got it a 9 rating.