Change Your Image
rerousseau
Reviews
Doc Martin: The Doctor Is Out (2015)
Classic episode
Louisa and Martin agreed to drop therapy and divorce at the close of the previous episode, and plan to discuss terms over dinner. But then, of course, Martin doesn't turn up. However, uncharacteristically, he doesn't call to explain, so Louisa becomes concerned. Has he finally lost his composure after being rejected once too many times by someone he loves?
My favorite episodes tend to be written by Jack Lothien, as this one was. An earlier episode contained a "Bodmin" man, Stewart James, with a six-foot-tall squirrel friend named Anthony. Clearly, and hilariously, a reference to James Stewart and his friend Harvey, but with a Doc Martin/Portwenn twist!
This episode featured at least three references to classic plots that have repeated this over time. For example, threatening to kill the medical professional unless they do something to alter a terminal diagnosis in someone they love. For another classic reference, the number being held hostage grows from one, to three, to five. Soon, everyone's having a party at gunpoint!
I have felt since episode one an affinity for Dr Ellingham, having lived and compensated for four-plus decades before getting professionally diagnosed with neurodiversity and surviving childhood trauma. I've predicted next lines of dialogue or what would happen in the plot before the episode's conclusion so many times, I feel like I could write my own episode!
I can't help seeing that Doc Martin loves people. He has a difficult time expressing it in words but does it exceptionally well in actions. He saves lives all the time. Someone who doesn't like people couldn't possibly care about going out of his way to ensure their well-being, even as he complains about it or points out that stupidity increased the danger in the first place. He is right! Of course! "Normal" people, as Louisa observes, are not so honest and direct, so they have a hard time figuring him out or knowing how to respond. "Average" people also couldn't diagnose so accurately nor treat so efficiently!
I like that the show plot for season 7 pointed out his need for and acceptance of counseling. I also like that he found a friend who loves him and accentuates his positive qualities, though it's a struggle, because it helps others be more fair. The writers insightfully show that Louisa fails to see her own "social" or relationship ineptitudes, and this has led up to an end of her marriage. The conclusion of this episode is satisfying because it is what would happen if the person who feels most "wronged" in a close friendship admits their own need for personal growth.
Blood (2018)
Boring
Too slow, or maybe too fast? Couldn't get into it. None of the characters are likeable. There is no one to root for and no clear direction. It's like starting halfway through a novel. Carolina Main is so disturbingly ugly that there is also nothing visually apoealing to draw me into the story. It makes no sense for any man to be attracted to someone so ugly and on top of that, without any personality appeal. We first see her yelling and vomitting, and it goes downhill from there. I prefer stories with characters I actually care about and could put myself in their place somehow. It's too bad because Diarmid Noyes IS appealing in his looks and his acting.
Tulsa (2020)
Silas Marner by George Eliot/Maryanne Evans
Retold for a contemporary audience. My favorite novel of all time. In fact, Tulsa was a blond beauty like Hephzibah/Eppie in the British Victorian classic. She wore nothing but golden yellow for the entire film. The golden sunshine, most valuable commodity in this life: warm, unconditional love. There is no lust in love, so it is frequently unrecognized in today's abandoned reality. Yet truth remains. While Maryanne Evans included Jesus Christ in her stories, if not her real life, His powerful presence clearly showed up throughout this tale of Scott Pryor's. The acting was very slightly awkward at very few times, and editing was what you'd expect from a limited budget. Entirely worth viewing! Perhaps more than once. A tear jerker in several places, but we all need to feel a broken heart every now and then.
The Five (2016)
Failed Delivery of Intriguing Premise
I wasn't sure what to make of American author with British mystery show. I have liked some of the author's earlier pre-2010-ish work in stand-alone novels (in other words, don't try the Bolitar series). My favorite mystery shows are British, though typically the ones also pre-2010 in origin (major exception: Father Brown). What a huge disappointment in The Five, which was ripe with all the flaws that drove me to drop the author's novels years ago. Why oh why did I come back to this trash?
The premise of finding current DNA from a child who disappeared decades earlier intrigued me. The resolution of this conflict was my only motivation to slog through the ten episodes.
The screenplay seemed composed by an adolescent, greatly appealing to those either chronologically or mentally remaining in adolescence, much like all of the "grown up" friends of the missing 5-year-old. The "drama" was all soap opera and teen angst, and too unrealistic to be believable, especially the characters.
Each character seemed to be two distinct personalities, constantly shifting from one to the other throughout the series. How can we connect with such strangers and their supposed plight? Also, neither personality within the characters seemed appropriate and connected to the story. All were inconsistent, as was the plot.
I held on begrudgingly to the end so I could find out the resolution, but I disliked every character more and more, even the missing child's mother and father by episode 9. I did not at all care about anyone in the end (except Number Five, if you know what I mean), nor did I wish for anyone to continue getting away with their civic or moral crimes.
I agree with all reviews indicating the irritating, pointless high-pitched screech in the soundtrack. It sounded like an error or accident.
I am baffled by the review that ranted about the script's "sexism." Generally speaking, the more current the screenplay, the more disrespectful it is to women. For example, they are currently most often portrayed as cowardly, demanding, impulsive, incredibly physically strong, sexy based on looks alone, and very stupid, but expect to be treated (or viewed) as if they are superior, self-controlled, kind, genuinely sexy, and dealing in reality while every male character is Wrong and Bad. Films from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were far more respectful and honoring to women, and in reality men knew how to treat women better back then. Women behaved like strong women in films, and good men behaved like good men (unlike Mark Wells, who is too weak to drop his interest and pursuit of married women). Women and men now behave however they want in films, but without any negative consequences, like what would most likely happen in reality.
Platoon (1986)
Waste of time
This film has no redeeming qualities. It's political propaganda at its finest, which is why Hollywood adores it. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this worthless trash as far as possible. If you want to learn what war does to the human soul, I recommend The Best Years of Our Lives. That film shows true heroes with actual souls, not animals who crave and savor violence. That's who wrote and directed this; it's all and only about his own dark soul.
Murder, She Wrote: Murder Among Friends (1996)
Quick Note
The Cindy Katz character, Ricki Vardian, with her large dark glasses, resembles the actress Kelli Martin so much (especially her character Becca Thacher in Life Goes On), I wonder if they are related in real life.