Blood and Oil

I don't normally write reviews of a BBC television dramas unless I feel particularly provoked one way or the other. Unfortunately it was because of my in-credulousness of how poor this program was. I actually found it hard to watch and certainly impossible to take seriously. The plot centres around a PR woman travelling to Nigeria to work for an oil company who's employees are regularly kidnapped or worse. Perhaps this could have been an interesting scenario. It wasn't.

Everyone is a caricature. In the opening scene the oil workers storm through a village in their Land Rovers knocking over people's property on the way- like cartoon villains. I was watching this scene with a guy who's worked for many years for a blue chip company in Nigeria who scoffed loudly at this. No foreign company acts in this disrespectful, provocative way.

Linking into this is the acting- it was atrocious- like watching actors who speak their lines like extras in a school play- seriously it was that unnatural. The kidnapped oil worker's wife spends her entire screen time crying at full volume and generally acting pathetically. Whilst our PR heroine gives almost a smug performance- acting incredibly inappropriately in certain scenes. For example instead of comforting the , albeit OTT-ly, distraught wife- she casually remarks along the lines of 'kinapping happens all the time here, don't worry' and then proceeds to sip a cocktail by the pool and make pleasantries with the hotel manager. The whole thing seemed staggeringly unnatural as did many other scenes- including the actor who plays 'Johnson' from Peep Show sporting a ridiculous American accent which was almost as funny as the, intentionally hilarious, boss he plays in Peep Show.

The disappointing thing is that there was clearly a big budget for this. But how any of this- the script, acting and direction could have been green lighted is a mystery. In a nutshell- if you want to look at Africa through the lens of a shallow soap opera production then this will be your thing. For a well acted and directed conspiracy drama set in the continent check out 'The Constant Gardner' instead.

Wonderful movie.Political thriller with some fact based issues being explored about corruption and greed and how the west is partly responsible. The backdrop is authentic. The story is based in Nigeria and it looks close to being filmed on location. The caste is very good. Names that I haven't heard of before. I didn't notice the the time go by even though it's a 4 hour miniseries.The plot keeps the viewer guessing. It was hard to tell who the good and bad guys were.I guess that's because the storyline was quite complex.Yet, it does not lose or confuse the viewer.Highly recommended. I wish they made more movies like this instead of the predictable garbage that's churned out by Hollywood each year.

As someone who grew up in Nigeria, I find it intriguing to hear some of the negative reviews of this movie. I can only assume that the reviewers know nothing about the country and its people. This was a very realistic portrayal of the country, the dramatic way that emotions are displayed, the seemingly chaotic lifestyle, and the nature of the oil business in Nigeria. I will definitely recommend anyone who wants to get an objective assessment of life in Nigeria. It gives you a good, albeit brief glimpse into other aspects of living in Nigeria which includes not just the poorest but also some middle class workers. It is a great movie. Highly recommended.

Really have enjoyed this two part series. Enough time given to develop the characters, actors are believable. I am not familiar with Nigeria, but the story line kept me hooked. I realize that the story line follows what is happening in that part of the world and it is frightening. I wish BBC would male a CD available for purchase in the United States. I would recommend this, specially if you like movies that take place in Africa, don't mind violence, because there is a great deal of violence in the series, although the violence is part of the story. Actors include David Oyelowo, of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Naoomi Harris, Jodhi May and Paterson Joseph, also from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The story line follows the kidnapping and what follows.

I almost did not bother watching this after reading the first two reviews on here, so thanks to jegpad for persuading me to give it a go. This was top notch both as a political thriller and a human drama, with fine performances from both the two female leads, Naomi Harris and Jodhi May. The script was constructed tightly, with twists and intrigues enough to hold the viewer's attention, yet filmed to allow the performances room to breathe, so the full emotional impact was felt.

The film also provided an enlightening insight into the politics of a part of the world our mass media largely shy away from, an issue touched on in the drama. We would rather not know. (A theme cleverly mirrored in the discoveries the two protagonists make about the men in their lives.) And while the crushing institutionalised corruption and exploitation were exposed, and with it our complicity as western consumers, there was sufficient sense of humanity to spare the film from utter bleakness.

Oh and to the poster who thought it too neat that "the one person who knows something and is willing to let her know is the kindly gardener she had met earlier", she had met him because he worked on the grounds of her husbands apartment, which was also the reason he knew of the comings and goings.