Il turista

The Australian Outback is another world..lonely, desolate and mind-numbing.

So when a sophisticated Irishman wakes up with no memory of who he is or his past, the endless expanse ironically imprisons him together with the locals who are either naive and innocent or who know more about his past.

Even the secondary characters highlight what living and working in such remote isolation can do to the human psyche..it's hard not to go crazy from nothing to do and nothing to see.

The landscape itself is a key character...passive and active at the same time.

But it has all the ingredients of an Australian mystery..dark, raw, and the right dose of dry humour.

I've noticed that The Tourist has been on Netflix's Top 10 since it came out earlier this year. The first season originally came out in the U. K. in 2022 where it was the most watched show of the year there too. I finally got around to watching it and have to say I really enjoyed it. It does start a little slow in the first episode so you might feel like giving up but don't, stick with it because it's worth it. It really picks up about midway through the second episode. All the actors give really good performances, especially Jamie Dornan. They really pull you into their world to the point where you really start to care about their characters and what happens to them. I really couldn't wait to find out more and more about Dornan's identity.

Everyone's giving Danielle Macdonald rave reviews, which she deserves, playing with a sweet naivety. But, to me, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson steals every scene he's in. He's low key, ominous and creepy at the same time.

I can't say that that this series is great, but it's worth the time devoted to the series and it keeps you interested through the series set. Not all series are worth the investment, but this one is. A man get amnesia and people are trying to kill him and he does not know why. The audience learns who he is in real time with him. It's a collage of a few different movies, but it's well done.

Great mini series. Jamie Dornan is a great actor. I first saw him in The Fall, his brooding presence and hints of psychopathy in this gave me nightmares for a while. He has the ability to convey what lies beneath his exterior just with a look. The fifty shades series sadly did not allow him to show his full potential and was a dire set of films based on a dire set of books.

The Tourist however shows a great return to form from a man that has depth, dark humor and a great screen presence. Initially The Tourist appears to be the story of an unfortunate man embroiled in something he cannot remember and he doesn't understand the events unravelling around him. However as the plot progresses the initially likeable main character has you questioning his veracity.

Touches of dark humour are sprinkled through the plot with some truly great cameos make some of the characters appear flawed and thoroughly unpleasant (Ethan).

Mr Dornan however allows his character to evolve and has you questioning his story to the end.

Loved this, nice to see something a bit different that kept me guessing. More please Jamie!

This looked good and once Ólafur Darri Ólafsson entered the scene, I remembered that I'd seen this before. Add in Danielle Macdonald (the trainee constable) and Damon Herriman, you know it's going to be one hell of a good show!

The scenery is, at times spectacular. And others, down and gritty. Kinda like the story itself.

The story is filled with twists and turns as you learn a bit more about who - and what - the tourist really is, so don't take a break without putting it on pause.

I'm glad Netflix put this on "rerun". I've actually run out of things to view and this is refreshing and actually smart. What a change from the usual stuff that's out there now.

Give it a whirl - and you'll be up at 4 AM too if you binge it too late in the day.