Rachel Davie

Wasn't a huge fan. I had a big break in between 2nd and 3rd season and almost couldn't continue with season 3 as the constant swearing was hard to get used to again and seemed more forced this time. Agree with others that the lack of accountability of each character became annoying, and how they swept others up in their chaos along the way and lied to so many people. Jen's relationship with her children was irritating - swearing in front of them, letting them do what they want and constantly lying to them. Both women also used other people along the way, like the two cops and the Asian neighbour who I felt sorry for by the end. Was it a coincidence that all these more minor characters happened to be of non-white descent? Maybe, but for a show which others have described as 'woke' it seemed blatantly obvious to me that these characters were filling the usual old stereotype of being a useful prop to the more interesting if morally questionable white characters. Certain things about their friendship were not realistic either. I didn't think Jen, a "normal" housewife with a low tolerance for most people would be so accepting about Jen's sexual fluidity which appeared out of nowhere. On a different note, how annoying were those choir performances which appeared in almost every episode?!

Watched this after reading the book. My feelings were the same for both written and dramatised versions. Promising start, but just meandered on with no real purpose or logical storyline. The beginning captures the intensity of teenage lust and passion very well, complicated by when there is shame and embarrasment involved. But just like the book no real answers were given for the many contradictions in Marianne's character - someone who is seemingly so smart, in control of herself and her principles, demonstrated by her single-mindedness at school, yet so passive and weak in other ways. Love and sex can assert inexplicable control over a person but it still didn't make sense that throughout she used relationships with men to claim an identity for herself. She was barely single for 2 minutes. The seemingly random on/off passion between her and Connel was also not presented well. It was emphasised that there was this powerful sexual bond between them, but this didn't match up with the many lukewarm and supposed friendship moments they shared. It was like they were able to turn this fiery passion on and off like a switch and whenever they got back 'together' it felt so contrived and unsatisfactory on an emotional level. Nor did Marianne's highly dysfunctional home background really justify her choices and behaviour. In fact, I was surprised she was able to make friends so easily at all at Trinity. Her reasons for entering into sadomasochistic sex with subsequent partners seemed to be more related to Connell's further rejection of her as she appeared fine until he showed up again. I guess her actions were compounded by her feelings of rejection by her family also, but the book or the film did not do a good job of showing this.

This moved me to tears in the final two episodes. I loved that it stopped short of being gushily sentimental but still gave us that sentimentalism that we do need at Christmas. I really wanted the best for all the characters by the end, even the more unlikeable ones which shows its relatability. So many Christmas specials have become crass and mean-spirited so you can't even root for the characters, but this never sunk that low.

Made it through ten minutes. It was already over for me after the little girl used the F word multiple times, but still tried to give it a chance. Not even Susan Sarandon's appearance could save it. What I saw unrolling was a very predictable movie with predictable OTT and unlikeable characters, foul language and bratty children. How these actors can appear in such trash with a clear conscience is beyond me.

SPOILERS: Continued watching only because I really needed something mindless and soapy to get me through the week. The dramatic ending of James falling backwards in episode 1 was misleading. I thought there would be some really gripping plot twists after that but as with all of these special effects, it was completely disproportionate to the actual event or emotion being conveyed. I found Sienna Miller's Sophie to be very lack lustre as the so-called wronged wife and many of her scenes seemed to be for aesthetic effect as we watched her looking elegantly mournful as she heroically carried on her duties as a yummy mummy. Very hard to really feel that much empathy for someone who had courted a Boden catalogue lifestyle for years and at the end is seen running joyfully through a countryside idyll that some could only dream of. If she had never worked during her entire marriage I can only imagine that the money from the divorce would enable her to maintain the lifestyle she has grown accustomed to. Rupert Friend was very weak also in my view. I found "young" James Whitehouse to be far more convincing as the entitled, slightly predatory toff. His younger self also had far more of an edge to him than Rupert's portrayal of a powerful Tory MP with a womanising streak. The dynamic between Kate/Holly and Sophie when they are reacquainted as adults was again disappointing. It seemed that their relationship at Oxford was quite utilitarian on Sophie's part and I picked up possible cheating/plagiarism by Sophie from Holly's notes. Strange that Kate as a self-made woman does not call her out on this or the series does not allow Sophie to have a deeper introspection into her own failings, beyond realising that she has in some way been complicit in her husband's version of "truth" as she pours herself yet another glass of wine to try to make sense of it all. As for the Kate/Holly storyline, needless to say it was completely unbelievable and far-fetched, but it could have been a great plot twist in a longer and better written production. It was hard to know if we were supposed to like Kate's character or not. I think we were supposed to respect her as a successful woman from an ordinary background, but this was hard as she was just incredibly unlikeable. I also found the diversity ticks very patronising. Whilst great to have black characters, it's almost as if the writers felt that just by throwing in some black people this fulfilled the diversity element. What about Indian or Chinese characters? London and the Inner Temple is in reality very diverse. All in all no matter how many dramatic visual effects, crazy camera angles and a supposedly sensational storyline, I still felt I was watching something incredibly mundane. When James said at the end that they had been through "hell" I honestly thought, have you? I must have missed that part because you all seemed to be treating a rape trial as some sort of irritable inconvenience to your daily routine of school runs, consuming wine and looking hot stuff at Westminster.

Enjoyed it. SPOILER ALERT: But I didn't believe that Peter would continue to harbour hate towards Phil that much so as to finish him off. He even opened up to him and seemed to be getting into the horse riding, so why follow-through? Unless he realised just how much his 'hero' would continue to torment his mum after the hide incident...anyway an example of some unsatisfactory plot holes and underdeveloped themes. Reading the reviews where people were half-expecting the two brothers to announce a relationship made me laugh! With arty films I guess you should expect almost anything!

The whole film (or the hour and 20 mins I watched) was very bizarre. What should have been comedic or dramatic moments felt stiff and awkward. I actually had hopes for Liz Hurley but she does not come across as a natural comedic actress at all. Kris Marshall, John Cleese and Caroline Quentin seemed lost in this movie. In fact the entire cast reminded me of a group of misfits who had accidentally landed onto the wrong set. Harsh, but I just couldn't believe that a movie with John Cleese and Kelsey Grammar did not once make me break into laughter. I've given it 2 stars because a couple of the scenes did force a smile from me (wacky bedroom dance scene...again so oddly out of place but for me the only time the actors just let their hair down and went with it). But sadly I'll have to conclude that the reviews I've read below are far more entertaining than the film itself.

The ending was beautiful. I liked to think there was some hope for them all after all.

Absolutely loved it. This was a kind of comedy-drama and I found the humour to be very dry and smart without overacting. Touching performances from the parents especially. The simmering family tensions followed by sudden eruptions that can be so typical of Christmas were portrayed well. It was the first German drama I have ever watched and I do confess to being sceptical that Germans could be funny... but I was very wrong!

Was ultimately moved by the overt sentimentality at the end , but I almost didn't stick it out. Within the first half hour you were presented with terrible Scottish accents and twee Scottish stereotypes. This was no improvement from Made of Honor, over ten years on, and I get the feeling that Americans just don't care about giving a realistic portrayal of Scottish culture, the more exaggerated the better. The Duke's accent was the worst for me as he sounded pretty rough, more like a Glasgow estate agent than a Scottish aristocrat. Just lazy research not to even get the nuances with the accents.