Fatal Attraction

Don't expect any surprises. It's pretty easy figure out in the first exposure. I did enjoy the 3rd episode retold from Alex point of view. My biggest complaint is Lizzie Caplan. She is just so horribly miscast. They did her no favors in styling her character either. There was no smolder to make me believe he would find her so irresistible that he would abandoned what is portrayed as a perfectly happy home. I don't mind Josh Jackson He's a great actor and he's believable considering the semi bad writing of this newly twisted story. I'm on the fence about finishing it. I probably will but I hope something changes quick.

Lots of angry reviews here, outraged at the attempts by Paramount to re-do the classic 80's thriller of the same name. Some, I believe, haven't actually watched past the first episode, which is quite patchy for thrillers like this, which is unusual. I'm through four episodes that I feel gives a fairly good rounding. There are clever moments, scenes that hark back to the film but it spins out the story here with great skill . The leads are terrific, reminding one how good an actor Joshua Jackson has proved to be. I like the backward flashes and different POV's. It does feel like it should be a mini series though. Hoping Paramount don't try and milk it. Crimes of passion are devastating, the impact on families is insurmountable. Good so far and ironically tantalising as the ensemble untangle the aftermath of ego, temptation guilt and redemption. No rabbit stew yet, but brace yourselves!

The movie was one of a kind, and the show seems to be taking the premise and exploring Alex's side more deeply, while possibly adhering to the original ending the movie had, but never stuck to. It's certainly worthwhile in 2023 to finally explore Alex's story, but this show doesn't capture what made the movie so special.

The acting is good, the writing is so so, but it's simply missing the magic of the movie. Maybe it's a lack of chemistry among the leads, or that the present day unravelling of the mystery/Dan's daughter's storyline feeling clunky. I'll probably stick with it to see how things play out, but I'm not disturbed and captivated the way I am during the movie (and I've seen it many times).

They certainly had big boots to fill here because "Fatal Attraction," with Michael Douglas, upon being released in 1987, became at the time one of the pivotal movies that inspired the erotic thrillers' phenomenon that went on for the next two decades or so, offering us amazing neo-noirs such as "Basic Instinct" & "Original Sin," and here we are 36 years later having a TV series based on it. This tells us a lot about the kind of impact the OG 80s film has had on Hollywood and the industry in general. Obviously having the expansion treatment to fit the requirements of a totally different format, it must have been very difficult for the writers to reimagine what was a shorter story and flesh it out in a way that is capable of hitting the desired spot for core fans, while simultaneously living up to the public's expectation, which by the way has been set extremely high by this amazing trailer. Jump into this if you want, but don't expect anything out of the ordinary, because not only are the storylines and characters way too complex to follow and understand, but the series also takes ages to hit its strides, and is quite honestly not as memorable, nor will it be as timeless as the original work it is based on.

As the plot summary so eloquently puts it:

It is "a deep-dive reimagining of the classic's thriller, exploring timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders and coercive control".

Keyword here is 're-imagination'. The TV series certainly has a different vibe/demeanor to it.

There's a huge twist in the last episode. Motivations, what drives people to do what they do, conflicts, misunderstandings, baggages, perceptions, perspectives, people's influences on one another, how a person gets molded into who they are, human psychology, it's all at play there.

There's probably a season 2 coming. I would certainly look forward to it.