Archie

The characterisations here are definitively subpar. No one looks or sounds like the people they portray, except for Laura Aikman, who looks quite a bit like and acts very much like her part. Therein lies the rub. Far too much effort to get that right that everything else fell by the wayside. The title is a misnomer, to say the least. It's not about Archie, it's not about Cary. It's about Dyan. It should have been called "Dyan, Me, Me, Me and the 6 years I spent with that guy to whom I've served up a narcissistic manipulation pie with a light sprinkle of powdered truth".

He said it best, everything is a confrontation to her. And every confrontation in this lifetime movie of the week is a character assassination for every acquaintance she makes. Everything that goes wrong is always someone else's fault. He does drugs, he sold the dog, he's overbearing and controlling, his mother is a beach, his biz partner is a time stealer. Despite all her obvious flaws, the production makes everyone else out to be the bad guy and poor misunderstood her. Every scene is manicured and curated to paint everyone else in a bad light, and even when you think that maybe there's a bit of balance here, it quickly turns to self-victimizing pandering, expecting the audience to be too stupid to see it.

An excellent study into the true character of a bitter ex-lover, but very little in the way of the person for whom we were duped into thinking it was about. It might think it's subtle, but it's not.

Decent and moving show, generally very well acted, but marred by a number of surprisingly sloppy factual errors that don't gel with the assertions made at the start that it was a well researched drama - in particular Grant gave up his career as soon as Jennifer was born, the brother who died did so before Archie was born. Easy to fact check these and other basic timeline issues that call into question veracity of the piece otherwise.

Shame because the acting was good by Isaac's, Aikman and Waters, and Isaac's captured Grant's voice exceptionally, although the make up of older Grant seemed less effective.

Generally moving and it revealed the man's achievements and complexities.

This is a very entertaining and beautifully made drama. It is not really a biography, it doesn't go through his life story - indeed it virtually glosses over his Hollywood career instead focusing on his relationship with his fourth wife in the 60s and his relationship with his mother. It does this sensitively, emotionally and intelligently.

Not simply listening his career allows the story to explore the man himself and what's wonderfully refreshing these days is that is doesn't dis him like so many biographies of celebrities tend to do these days. He wasn't perfect but he comes across as a genuinely nice guy.

Whilst the main narrative is set in the 60s, there are flashbacks into his awful childhood in Bristol. These insights into his past explains who he became. Considering these traumatic experiences, it's amazing that he turned out so normal.

It's a very watchable four hours.

Cary Grant was always one of my favourite film stars.

When I saw this series and Grant being played by Jeremy Issacs I thought he doesn't look anything like Grant and it would be terrible .

How wrong I was. Very quickly Issaacs became Grant in a compelling series of the man behind the name 'Cary Grant' .

Binge watched the 4 episodes and found it riveting .

Isaacs plays Grant brilliantly

Can't really say much else, but need to fill out the required wordage to say I think it is certainly worth a watch particularly if you enjoyed Grants' films and gives a riveting glimpse behind the persona.

The praise for Jason Isaacs that I've read in other reviews is certainly justified but I would not go so far as some who declare that he looks and sounds just like the original. The accent is good but it's not exactly like the man himself (actually I think that Captain Scarlett and Fancy from Top Cat were both slightly better), also it rather comes and goes a bit. That, of course, could be deliberate given that one of the main themes is that the character Cary Grant was all an act. As for the visuals, from what I've seen Jason Isaacs looks nothing like Grant, but long hours in makeup have made him into a good imitation, most of the time. At other times he looks like Eddie Albert or Robert DeNiro.

One thing that keeps coming up about Grant is whether he was gay or not. That's not addressed here. It seems a bit unfair that his great chum Randolph Scott is sidelined to one small scene though.