skinnybert

Overall, this series is certainly to be praised for tackling difficult issues of trust and forgiveness -- all worth seeing. But the first and last segments are the weakest. While we do get all the resolutions here, they all feel a bit rushed, and several do so by nearly undermining the premise (facing up to responsibility for one's actions, and making things right). In fact, one major problem is reconciled mainly by chance, and at least one problematic person is merely dismissed -- with absolutely nothing solved. Harumph!

However, this is the segment where several characters get their strongest scenes -- including Dawn French, who previously seemed one of the weaker links. The result doesn't make up for all the earlier faults (and continues the fault of too much serene guitar music) -- but still remains a worthwhile mini-series (which I still think would have made a better two-hour movie than 4.5 hour miniseries)

Halfway through episode 3, I found myself remarking: it's not very good, but we're still watching.

First, though, the qualities do extend beyond the scenery. There is good acting, some charismatic players, and plot elements which are emphatically NOT cliche.

Then we get to the could-have-been-improved: it's not just that the story moves slowly; that in itself could have been a great quality. But the telling itself is slowed again and again with pregnant stares, long pauses, cutoff exchanges, and line after line of repetition and dithering. Often scenes will show that there's something to know ... and then end without showing it. Oh sure, it all comes out eventually, assuming the viewer doesn't abandon the show in frustration. This series loves to leave the viewer short on information, which gets irritating when used over and over. The net result is like a high-production daytime soap which occasionally rises above the cheap melodrama -- but only after making you wait and wait for it.

The other negative point, curiously, is the big-name star: Dawn French plays the same overly-self-absorbed character she did in Vicar of Dibley (to the detriment of that show), with the difference being there is no live audience to laugh at her antics. And there shouldn't be, as this shows; it's actually not something to laugh about -- and yet this was clearly wanted. The result is something like watching a very slow train wreck, and then the lengthy cleanup afterward -- could that be a comedy? Ah, no, sir; this is Comedy only in the classic Greek sense of resolving all that goes wrong in the first act. Had it been done in two hours instead of more than four, I think we might have had a much stronger story -- but as it is, it's still a credit to everyone involved. Just don't expect to laugh.

Marc Singer has to say some pretty stylized dialog in this film -- and darn if he doesn't make it stick: he speaks like a man who truly believes what he says. Surprising that Claudia Christian isn't a bigger name, as she navigates a fairly tricky balance between types, a decade before she voiced Adrianne Avenicci in Skyrim. John Saxon delivers yet another beautiful performance, villainous without feeling like a parody. Watching this for the second time, I found myself marveling at how convincing all the principals are, regardless of the wha-huh? Qualities of the plot. (And yes, I had also just been re-watching Beastmaster, why do you ask?)