Amnesia

This programme creates two intertwined story lines. One involves a detective whose wife apparently runs out on him on their 5th wedding anniversary and is not seen or heard from in the 3 months before the programme starts. The other story is about a man with apparent amnesia who MAY have murdered his wife and step child.

The detective falls apart, drinking heavily and starts to confuse fantasy and reality. Then he decides that two men appearing on two different Missing Posters are the same man, and this is the amnesiac man. The detective starts putting pressure on the amnesiac to admit who he is. Meanwhile other detectives begin to question whether the wife really ran away.

This programme relies heavily on amnesia, memory loss, memory gaps, hallucinations, twisted memories, unreliable remembrances. As such, nothing you see or hear can be relied upon. And therein lies the problem. There is nothing in this programme to get your teeth into. There are no reliable facts to hold on to. None at all.

Is the amnesiac a murderer? Is the detective a murderer? Has anyone actually been murdered? Does anyone care? Sure, it has the high production values of UK-based drama, with fine acting and a reasonable script, but the story just doesn't hold water and the over-use of unreliable memories makes the plot too fluid to be involving.

I lost count of the number of slamming doors when nobody was there, out of focus flashbacks, deliberately vague memories, seeing things that weren't there, mistaking one person for another, red herrings, over reactions and implausible coincidences. Everything is just too contrived to make sense.

Oh, and the computer skills ascribed to one of the characters is simply impossible.

Overall I found the plot simplistic, obvious and devoid of tension. If you don't bother to pay attention or think about what you're watching then you'll undoubtedly be surprised by the ending. Personally I knew the outcome less than 5 minutes into the programme.

A really disappointing programme.

John Hannah shines in anything he does. Amnesia had us on the edge for 3 episodes, since it showed over a 3-week period here on TVO! Patrick Malahide was also superb as his boss. What these guys can do with their facial expressions! (applies to rest of cast also).

General comment: British suspense-mysteries are compelling because the characters are so complicated. In fact, the cops are sometimes more messed-up than the guys they're trying to catch. The plot or the 'whodunit answer' is often secondary. If you try watching typical American CSI-type shows afterwards, they almost seem laughable.

What gives Amnesia such a punch is that it does have an intriguing plot and outcome also. The movie ends, but the story doesn't. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Added note: a few are questioning the conclusion or ultimate solution to the mystery. The Brits don't worry about whether the parameters of their plots are rational-they just want to surprise you! Stop worrying!

For some reason, IMDb has this listed as a "romance" film. Well, I suppose there is a little of that, but to me, it seemed more like a mystery or crime-drama movie than anything else. Regardless, this is a very good film with a couple of interesting interwoven subplots throughout. Essentially, "Detective Mackenzie Stone" (John Hannah) suffers from a short-term lapse of memory involving an argument with his wife "Lucia Stone" (Beatriz Batarda), and now she has completely disappeared. He becomes frantic to find out what happened to her and turns to alcohol to escape his feelings of despair. Because of this, his mind begins to play tricks on him as he starts having both hallucinations and flashbacks of his final moments with her, and neither he (nor the audience) is able to figure out which are true and which aren't. At the same time, another man named "John Dean" (Anthony Calf) is suffering from long-term amnesia and cannot remember anything about his past. However, he has made a new life for himself, and he and his new wife, "Jenna Dean" (Jemma Redgrave), are very happy together. That is, until Detective Stone comes along. At any rate, rather than disclose any of the surprises in store for any new viewers, I will just say that I just happened to check this out at my local library the other day on the spur of the moment, and I'm glad I did. It had good acting, especially on the part of John Hannah and Jenna Redgrave, and plenty of surprises along the way. One caution, though, it does run a bit long (around 3 hours), so you might need to check your schedule to ensure there's room for it. But I think you'll be glad you did.

If you get a chance to see this 2-part TV show, then you certainly should.

Synopsis: (NO SPOILERS)

The story concerns police detective Mackenzie Stone whose wife disappeared a few years ago - and he who still recovering from the incident - experiencing weird dreams and the like. At the same time we are introduced to another man - John Dean, who is suffering from total amnesia, meaning that he remembers nothing of his past life before he turned up in hospital 5 years ago.

Mackenzie Stone, played by John Hannah becomes convinced that he knows who John Dean really is, that he is a man who dissapeared a few months before John Dean appeared - and that he murdered his family before hand to claim the insurance money. However, it starts to become apparant that DS Stone may well have killed his own wife...

In all this is a very good 2-parter with a very nice pay-off at the end. All the cast put on good performances, and it is all very believable.

This seems a lot older than it really is but the acting was great from the usual suspects.

The plot leaves a lot to be desired and the flashbacks John Hannah keeps having get old very quickly.

It was a nice twist with his detective partner although I began to suspect it early on. But the full role he played kept me guessing. We are thrown a lot of red herrings which are never resolved though.

Several reviewers have wondered why John Dean had walked into A&E claiming amnesia but he was in an accident that required major face reconstruction. Cheaper than plastic surgery and left me wondering if it had been intentional.

I think it was an enjoyable watch in spite of the flaws. And there were major flaws.