The Perfect Couple

I genuinely struggled through most of it to pay attention. Most of the characters seemed lacking something or just too completely Cliche. Nicole Kidman did an excellent job at playing the stuck up/ up tight rich wife that rules every part of the families life. A lot of people said Liev Schreiber just phoned his performance in but I thought he played his roll extremely well. It boils down to a rich family murder mystery where the cops seem completely incompetent. It's only after politely asking each subject and literally taking their word for it do we FINALLY find out who the killer is, which is barely explained what the motive was.

Terrible plot, zero rhythm, police work so absurd it feels like a parody, and enough soap opera-level twists to make even telenovela writers confused. By the end of this "murder mystery," you're expecting Nicole Kidman to rip off her wig and dramatically reveal she's actually the long-lost brother of the bride's father.

By the time the grand finale rolls around and the murderer is revealed, you've stopped caring. So has the police. And the entire family, for that matter. Yet, I'm sure this will be the most-watched series of 2024-because viewers will hang on just to see how much worse it can get.

The critics have been cruel. The ratings are middling BUT they miss the point.

This is a typical Agatha Christie-esque who-dunnit.... take a group of people at a country house and have a dead body type of whodunnit.

So it becomes a sort of puzzle.

1. Attractive cast - check 2. Attractive locale - check 3. Characters with secrets - check 4. Characters with motive - check 5. Characters with opportunity - check 6. Murder victim who may or may not be a nice person - check 7. Big reveal at the end after assorted red herrings are resolved. - check

Now comes the hard part. Is it well done?

Actually I think it is. It does drag at little in the middle but the resolution works.

As for the cast. I think they all do quite well and Nicole Kidman whom I have never quite taken to actually surprises me. I usually find her cold but in this, at the end, I fully understood her character. Her much maligned accent actually makes sense in the circumstances.

Give it a try. It is not the greatest mystery ever but it is fun if you just go along for the ride.

The Perfect Couple is about a young woman (Eve Hewson) who's about to marry into an extremely wealthy family in Nantucket until the shocking death of her maid of honor prevents the wedding from happening and makes every guest there a suspect while all their secrets come to light. What a follows is a fantastic murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. This probably isn't going to win any awards, maybe for the acting, but it's a guilty pleasure show that's worth the watch. Some people have said it's a little too soapy and while it is at times it's still very entertaining. There is plenty of mystery, tension, suspense, comedy and drama to make the six episodes fly by. I actually finished all 6 episodes in one day, that's how much I was hooked.

I would have enjoyed this so much more if it had been labelled a comedy/dark comedy. I've read lots of books with similar plots and have enjoyed them but the tone in this show felt a little off from the start. Good actors were bad, performances were too big, etc. I thought it was just incredibly cheesy for the most part but by the end it's a clearly a full on satire. Keep this in mind and you might actually enjoy it, even if the overall direction doesn't quite get the tone right all the way through.

Not good enough that I'd seek out the book it's based on but a decent watch if you're in the mood for a cheesy show that doesn't take itself too seriously (and you can handle some bad accent work).