jackaries

A Fargo-style quirky crime drama set in the Aussie outback should have been right in my wheelhouse, but sadly this does not live up to the solid idea it's based on.

Season one is watchable, if entirely predictable and uneven in tone, and is really hampered by the complete lack of charisma on Jamie Dorman's part, as well as his complete lack of chemistry with Shalom Brune-Franklin. This season is mainly carried by the strong Aussie cast with a few welcome familiar faces doing the heavy lifting. 6/10

Season two, however, is just abysmal. The writing from the get-go is cringeworthy and the tone vacillates wildly between broad comedy and a particularly poor attempt at gritty thriller. 3/10

Overall, really disappointing.

I wanted to like this. Hell, I did like it for about two episodes, I like anything that tries to do something fresh, but sadly it soon sinks into familiar territory for a Damon Lindelof product.

Someone really needs to tell the man that even though "convoluted" and "clever" both start with a C, they don't mean the same thing.

For a few brief moments I was reminded of Terry Gilliam, but mostly it reminded me of Richard Kelly's woeful and messy Southland Tales.

Overstuffed, overcomplicated, repetitive, and ultimately a chore to get through, despite an excellent central performance from Betty Gilpin, who deserves better.

The movie itself was insulting enough, offering absolutely nothing new at all to the franchise it was very smugly claiming to refresh.

The biggest insult of all, however, was "For Wes" at the beginning of the end credits.

Avoid at all costs.