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jdsilby
Reviews
Broadchurch (2013)
Awful, pretentious, melodramatic. A dismal failure
When it comes to TV programs and movies it's very much a case of 'beauty lies in the eye of the beholder'. The reviews here are so glowing I feel compelled to offer an alternative view.
I endured the first four episodes of Broadchurch. I watched the first one because the trailer looked intriguing. I expected it to follow the usual one-story-per-episode format, but when the first episode ended without a resolution I figured it was like Silent Witness, and would tell the story over two parts. There still wasn't any progress after the second episode... nor after the third or fourth. I'd had enough. I did an Internet search, only to find that it had FOUR more weeks to run. At that point I gave up, after reading an episode guide to find out who killed Danny.
I skipped the next three weeks and watched the final episode - which aired in Australia a couple of nights ago. While it was good to finally find out how Danny had died the final episode did nothing to change my opinion of the series. Moreover, I didn't get the impression that I'd missed anything by not watching the intervening episodes.
There's only one word that adequately describes Broadchurch - tedious. Bad acting and terrible writing make it tedious to the point that it's painful. The plot moves so slowly it would be more exciting to watch paint drying.
The actors are all miscast, and the two principals in particular give very disappointing performances. David Tennant is floundering out of place and out of his depth in Broadchurch, rather like a mediaeval knight up against a modern machine gun. The permanent sour look on Olivia Colman's face seems to indicate that she's stepped in a huge cowpat and can't get rid of the smell. Only a handful of characters are portrayed at all realistically - notably the newspaper reporters.
The producers claim that they wanted to explore the way a small town falls apart in the wake of an event like Danny's murder. It is an excellent idea, but it fails dismally in the execution. The story is unbelievable and unrealistic. The town seems to be inhabited entirely by people who have deep, dark secrets. There's not a well-adjusted, pleasant person among the lot of them, and only one - Danny's friend Tom - is anywhere near likable... and even Tom has a couple of secrets. We all have things we keep to ourselves, but the people of Broadchurch are simply not credible, and interactions between characters are forced and unsatisfying. The vicar tries his best to provide a compassionate, human face but he has only a minor role (at least in the episodes I watched). Surely there were others in the town who didn't fall into the falling-apart-at-the-seams-lets-see-who-we-can-blame scenario. The dark atmosphere, with no light and no humour, is oppressive and made this viewer just wish the series was over already. Even the town itself is portrayed as bleak and dismal (the investigation takes place over about two months; surely southern England could produce at least one nicer day in that time). Any story needs balance to make it work; Broadchurch is so relentlessly dark and foreboding that it becomes swamped in its own mire.
In the five episodes I watched, only one brief scene engaged my emotions. That was right near the end, after the case had been wrapped up, where Tennant and Colman were sitting and chatting quietly about their futures. That scene was poignant and - at last! - there was some believable writing and acting. It's a shame the writing and acting in the rest of the series wasn't up to the standard reached in that scene.
To me the whole series seems to be under-developed and littered with missed opportunities - for example, the lighting of the beacons at the end. That scene could have been dramatic and powerful, offering a new hope for the future. Instead it was clumsy and melodramatic.
I can't believe someone thought it was good drama to drag this story out over eight parts. The writing is bad enough to begin with; spreading it so far ruins the story altogether. It should have been edited to, at the most, two episodes.
And they're making another series? Please spare us!
I give this series a rating of one - because I can't give it a lower one.
The Alice (2004)
Wonderful views of Central Australia
The Alice outdoor scenes certainly were filmed in and around the real Alice Springs, and I enjoyed seeing some familiar places (Todd Mall, Anzac Hill, the John Flynn Memorial Church, the mural on the wall of Kmart, the Gap, the Macdonnell Ranges, Alice Springs railway station), as well as some great shots of the Central Australian scenery.
The railway scenes appeared to be shot north of Alice Springs, on the new line to Darwin - an anomaly, since the character on (and off, LOL) the train was traveling from Adelaide to Alice Springs and these events should have taken place to the south of the town. The passenger lounge on board The Ghan looked authentic, as did the exterior shots of the train.
The Adelaide station scenes were apparently shot somewhere other than at the station The Ghan uses, and the hotel into which the truck was driven was just a facade built for the film.
Yes, it was a bit quirky, but I enjoyed it a lot.