Stanley-UK
Joined Mar 2021
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Reviews17
Stanley-UK's rating
This eight-part series is (mostly) set in London in the present day. The story revolves around a woman who - reluctantly - accepts the post of US ambassador to the UK. Almost immediately upon her arrival in England, she is thrown into a political hurricane following an attack upon a British battleship that results in the deaths of 41 sailors.
Keri Russell portrays the ambassador in an entirely convincing manner, not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust, whether it be the existing embassy staff, the CIA, her - allegedly - political allies (the British and French) or opponents (the Russians and Iranians). She cannot even trust her husband, who had been an ambassador before her and has his own hidden agenda. Her gender is irrelevant, as she never uses her sexuality to get her way, and she prefers wearing pants to dresses and takes off her high-heeled shoes whenever the opportunity arises.
Less convincing to me was the lax attitude of her bodyguards towards her security, as they appeared to be happy to allow her to sneak out of a building for a secret rendezvous or to watch her having a punch-up with her husband through their binoculars.
Also surprising was the use of the British actor Rufus Sewell as the husband. When calm and under control his American accent was tolerable, but it all but disappeared when he got excited or angry. Quite why it was necessary to ask a British actor to pretend to be an American is beyond my understanding.
8 out of 10 stars.
Keri Russell portrays the ambassador in an entirely convincing manner, not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust, whether it be the existing embassy staff, the CIA, her - allegedly - political allies (the British and French) or opponents (the Russians and Iranians). She cannot even trust her husband, who had been an ambassador before her and has his own hidden agenda. Her gender is irrelevant, as she never uses her sexuality to get her way, and she prefers wearing pants to dresses and takes off her high-heeled shoes whenever the opportunity arises.
Less convincing to me was the lax attitude of her bodyguards towards her security, as they appeared to be happy to allow her to sneak out of a building for a secret rendezvous or to watch her having a punch-up with her husband through their binoculars.
Also surprising was the use of the British actor Rufus Sewell as the husband. When calm and under control his American accent was tolerable, but it all but disappeared when he got excited or angry. Quite why it was necessary to ask a British actor to pretend to be an American is beyond my understanding.
8 out of 10 stars.
This eleven-part series is a political drama set in present-day Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The title refers to the initially central character of the plot (although her presence fades as the story progresses), a 'fixer' who deals with problems caused and faced by political candidates and business leaders.
There is little about the story that makes it different or novel, apart from the fact that the majority of the leading characters are female, rather than male, which is unusual in a country in which only 10% of political candidates are female, placing it 108th in the world for female representation (note that North Korea is 114th).
In the western world, we are familiar with the likes of Hilary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel in seats of power, so the notion of female politicians is far from a novelty.
I will not go into details of the plot here, apart from to say that it builds up to the election of the Mayor of Seoul, which is clearly much more significant than mayoral positions in the UK. The heroes (and heroines) and villains are largely two-dimensional, teenage cartoon caricatures, whilst the quality of the acting and script (even taking into account that I watched the 'dubbed into English' version) reminded me of that of a junior school play.
There is the usual amount of treachery, back-stabbing, lying and corruption associated with most political dramas, combined with sibling rivalry, adultery, blackmail and murder, but 'House of Cards' this most definitely is not.
Once the roles of the leading individuals had been clearly defined in the first couple of episodes, the various twists and turns and the eventual outcome, were obvious and predictable. The story was enjoyable without ever being either challenging or riveting.
3 out of 10.
There is little about the story that makes it different or novel, apart from the fact that the majority of the leading characters are female, rather than male, which is unusual in a country in which only 10% of political candidates are female, placing it 108th in the world for female representation (note that North Korea is 114th).
In the western world, we are familiar with the likes of Hilary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel in seats of power, so the notion of female politicians is far from a novelty.
I will not go into details of the plot here, apart from to say that it builds up to the election of the Mayor of Seoul, which is clearly much more significant than mayoral positions in the UK. The heroes (and heroines) and villains are largely two-dimensional, teenage cartoon caricatures, whilst the quality of the acting and script (even taking into account that I watched the 'dubbed into English' version) reminded me of that of a junior school play.
There is the usual amount of treachery, back-stabbing, lying and corruption associated with most political dramas, combined with sibling rivalry, adultery, blackmail and murder, but 'House of Cards' this most definitely is not.
Once the roles of the leading individuals had been clearly defined in the first couple of episodes, the various twists and turns and the eventual outcome, were obvious and predictable. The story was enjoyable without ever being either challenging or riveting.
3 out of 10.