Deborah Greenfield

A very fun show with lovely performances, especially Elle, but it could be so much greater without writing that tediously overuses the F and C words and other explicit stuff that the writer apparently thinks is oh so daring, like some sort of repressed 13 year old. It gets downright boring, plus coming so indiscriminately from multiple characters erodes the individuality of roles otherwise excellently drawn. I felt sorry for the actors at times. Saying fxxk and cxxt and pxxxy over and over again does not an interesting script make.

Mildly enjoyable like a cheap box of chocolates. The writing is astoundingly clunky with sometimes laughable plot lines. There is nothing fresh about the look of the thing - could've been shot decades ago - and the directing is leaden and unimaginative. I often felt sorry for the actors having to try to breathe life into it all, which for me, only Denée Benton as Peggy Scott seemed able to do with any consistency. In the case of Louisa Jacobson as Marion Brook, someone much more interesting was needed to transcend the absolutely flat character written for her, but then again, even Christine Baranski comes across as one dimensional, and not at all funny. Shame. So much money spent for such mediocre results.

Found the scene where Cumberbatch repeatedly hits a horse in the face very upsetting and switched off. I'd suggest to filmmakers, and actors, that they push their creativity further to find ways to tell their stories without abusing innocent animals in the process. Shame on them.