Hazel Abbs

Spoiler Alert - Plot discussed This is a beautifully shot series - the elegant black and white photography is wonderfully shot and adds an evocative and vintage feel to the show that is very attractive, The difficulty for me comes with the drama itself. Shot over 8 episodes it feels at least 2 episodes too long. The casting is really poor with even the wonderful Andrew Scott feeling miscast due to his age. Marge and Dickie feel like a ponderous middle aged couple and Dickie has none of the charm or charisma that the novel imbues him with. Dakota Fanning plays Marge with a constant scowl on her face and is charmless and cheerless from the beginning. Andrew Scott has long since cornered the market in scoiopathic/pyschopath characters but he plays Ripley as so far removed from humanity that one wonders how anyone wishes to spend more than 5 minutes in his company. A powerful actor he achieves moments of nuance but otherwise feels rather 2 dimensional. Freddie is horribly cast - played with no lightness of touch and the viewer is left wondering why Dickie would ever consider spending any time with him. In summary this version lack the lightness of touch that lifts the dark of the novel and becomes a rather ponderous watch - even the "will they/wont they finally catch Ripley" plot twists start to lose their tension as the interplay between Ripley and Marge is so protected. If you know the book you may be disappointed with this version. If you don't you may enjoy the storyline more but I think the issues with casting and the pace of the piece will still be off putting