glennhyde Reviews

Gone Girl (2014)

Cheap fiction

[2/10 · 2 August 2020]

The movie version of what was, presumably, a very thick, very cheap paperback. At least, that's how it comes over. Without heart, without honesty, just manipulative of the viewers emotions. With gratuitous rather than elegant twists and turns in the plot, it certainly has a baseline intrigue. But it's as if you're hungry so you go for the nearest, easiest meal you can find. When it comes, you have doubts but feel you have to finish it. When you have, you wish you hadn't.

Martin's Close (2019 TV Movie)

It let's the side down

[2/10 · 7 January 2020]

I don't often post my views on IMDB because I know how difficult it is to make a halfway decent drama. This one is so strangely bad that I feel I have to flag it up. It's so dud that it has the feel of a student movie and apart from the performances of Peter Capaldi and Sara Crowe there's a distinctly amateurish air throughout (Simon Williams is good but wasted as the unnecessary modern commentator). Any courtroom drama should have plenty of coverage plus a few unique angles to give the editor (and the audience) a sporting chance of a stimulating ride. In this case there's far too much in close up - you could be watching Eastenders for goodness sake! The real curse is the script which has its own spoilers built-in, no surprises anywhere and, crucially for a ghost/horror story, none at the end. That such a remarkably bad production has Mark Gatiss's name on it is plain weird. There is so much brilliant drama on British TV (often written by Moffat & Gatiss) that this is definitely an oddball orphan. Over the years the BBC has made several half-hearted attempts at Christmas ghost stories. Even the better ones seem to lack conviction, 'going through the motions' almost. Come on BBC, it a great genre, give us a cracker for 2021!

Porters (2017–2019)

Brilliant

[10/10 · 20 March 2019]

A cracking idea but why only three episodes? Let's hope we get more. The whole package is spot on - It has first-rate writing, good pace and a terrific cast. Edward Easton is a superbly innocent fall guy and the rest of the cast hardly notice bringing him down. It's like sit-coms used to be - funny. Unlike anything from Gervais or, it hurts me to say, Coogan.

Porters (2017–2019)

Brilliant

[10/10 · 20 March 2019]

A cracking idea but why only three episodes? There looks to be bags of potential here so let's hope we get more. The whole package is absolutely spot on - first-rate writing, good pacing and terrific casting. Edward Easton is a superbly innocent fall guy surrounded by an excellent cast who hardly even notice bringing him down. It's a comedy of the old sort. In other words, funny, unlike anything from Gervais or, it hurts me to say, Coogan.

The Durrells (2016–2019)

Perfect

[21 May 2018]

Congratulations to all involved in this. I've watched every one of all the three series, some episodes more than once on the ITV 4 repeats. Everything centres on Keeley Hawes and although her performance is truly memorable, going seamlessly from near farce to deep sadness, every one of the cast is excellent and obviously 'get it' which can only be because of spot-on direction. The BBC must be gnashing their teeth at not snapping up Simon Nye. There seem to be quite a few jaded individuals who hated The Durells but I'm at a loss as to work out why.

Wild Tales from the Village (2016 TV Movie)

Exceptionally good

[10/10 · 29 April 2018]

The time and trouble that must have been taken to make this wildlife documentary, the state of the art camerawork (presumably miniature types with amazing depth of field and top rate drones), the spot-on and stylish editing, the outstandingly good and frequently humorous scripting and the just-right commentary spoken by the man from The Missing made this more than just excellent. It was ground-breaking.

Quacks (2017–2018)

Should have been a classic.

[5/10 · 30 August 2017]

When I saw the first episode of Quacks I was electrified. At long last, we had Blackadder-standard TV again! The three main cast members were striving to advance medical science, took themselves extremely seriously and were totally incompetent – a good starting point for comedy. I can't include the one leading female character in this as she was obviously the only one with a brain. Set in the mid-1800s, a lot of the gags were to do with how bad things were in those days, in this case the severely unequal society and scientific knowledge & medicine in general. So cheap laughs and grotesque characters were gloriously abundant (to our shame, we all like to giggle at how ignorant and silly people used to be – oh well, laugh while you can, I suppose). There were several occasions when laughter just shot out of me quite involuntarily. One scene involved the revolutionary use of ether to render a patient unconscious during an operation. In his vanity, Rory Kinnear's Lessing, 'England's finest surgeon', briefly stops his unhygienic hacking to smoke a cigarette with a fine artistic flourish. Unfortunately, a careless match sets the ether alight causing panic and pandemonium. Sick humour? No, to me, grown-up and hilarious. The next two episodes were also gloriously farcical – I was hooked. Then something strange happened. It was as though the writer (plus producers? The BBC?) ran out of confidence, time, ideas, creativity or essential push to move it on. Despite the cast's best efforts, it actually became bland. It was as though the series arrived at a crossroads. A signpost pointing one way said 'Satirical, difficult and funny'. The sign pointing the other way said, 'Sort of soap opera and easy'. The remaining episodes took the latter route. A Very Great Shame.

White Gold (2017–2019)

What a Cracker

[10/10 · 23 June 2017]

This series was outrageously enjoyable. It made even the best telly drama and comedy look insipid – think of Only Fools and Horses with realism, Men Behaving Badly with pathos, Sherlock with engaging vulgarity and Bluestone 42… you couldn't add to that because it was similarly uncompromising. All the cast were terrific but it was Ed Westwick's take on Vincent, the leading character, which did the heavy-lifting. The usual compliments for a good performance aren't sufficient – 'electrifying and totally committed' get nowhere near - all art is artifice so how about, 'So real you could smell the b.o. breaking through the cheap deodorant. I loved the way he did asides to the audience and, once again (like Alfie, Flashman, Richard lll) was seduced by an appalling character's honesty in his villainy. However, as most of the other cast were almost as atrocious, and no one died, it was all utterly compelling. Sad, funny, serious and disgusting – it was brilliant and strictly for adults.