BBC recently released this show onto the IPLAYER and I have now watched the 4 episodes of the show and here is my review for Rules of the Game. The premise of the show sees a new head of HR join a company and she starts to examine the toxic working relationship of the company and take action against the culture of the senior staff.
Main Character Maxine Peake plays the lead character Sam and the best thing I can say about her is that she is clearly acting well. It is a strong performance and you can tell she is really giving her all in the role but the problem is that she is so unlikeable in the role. You can have flawed characters but when there is pretty much nothing to make you care then it is a pretty difficult sell to an audience.
Supporting Characters Rakhee Thakrar plays the new head of HR and she is okay, again she acts the role well and you are obviously on her side because of the clear issues at the work place. But she is just a bit bland and boring, the show loses the ball with her in the middle of the show and it made it a struggle to full get on board. Callie Cooke as Tess Jones is probably the best character in the show, she is really affected by the issues at the workplace and for me she was the one person that I felt was genuine with her character and I kind of wish she was given more screen time as she was my favourite character. Ben Batt and Kieran Bew play the brothers who are the executives and they are okay but there is no denying they are cliché's and it is laughable how over the top they are. The rest of the cast do their best but there just isn't much here and I would argue the show is a bit cluttered and could have done with some having a smaller role.
Story The story is where the show really falls down, it is just absolutely absurd. It starts off trying to set the show in pretty realistic conditions but as it goes on you realise just how crazy it starts to get and how it is just laughable. It also doesn't help how predictable it is, I worked out what was going on by the end of the first episode and that was a big issue for me. The ending is also too abrupt, it leaves you wondering what happened to the majority of the characters and that is a big let down.
Script The script does have some okay dramatic dialogue that makes the interactions feel more intense. But it also feels quite superficial, it is also a pretty dour show and that makes it hard to stick with, especially with its slower pace. Now I don't mind if a show wants to push a message, this show is clearly pushing the feminism message and that is fine, but why do shows like this have to make every male character a scumbag, it just takes me out of it and feels like the message is outweighing the actual show.
Style The show is filmed well enough but it is so boring. The show trundles its way through the episodes and it can't keep the suspense and drama up enough for me. It is a shame that this is the case as the set design is pretty good but I fear people won't even bother watching till the end.
Overall Overall, Rules of the Game is a poor show that misses the mark. It clearly has a message but it executes it badly and I would say give this one a miss.
Rating - 3/10.
Main Character Maxine Peake plays the lead character Sam and the best thing I can say about her is that she is clearly acting well. It is a strong performance and you can tell she is really giving her all in the role but the problem is that she is so unlikeable in the role. You can have flawed characters but when there is pretty much nothing to make you care then it is a pretty difficult sell to an audience.
Supporting Characters Rakhee Thakrar plays the new head of HR and she is okay, again she acts the role well and you are obviously on her side because of the clear issues at the work place. But she is just a bit bland and boring, the show loses the ball with her in the middle of the show and it made it a struggle to full get on board. Callie Cooke as Tess Jones is probably the best character in the show, she is really affected by the issues at the workplace and for me she was the one person that I felt was genuine with her character and I kind of wish she was given more screen time as she was my favourite character. Ben Batt and Kieran Bew play the brothers who are the executives and they are okay but there is no denying they are cliché's and it is laughable how over the top they are. The rest of the cast do their best but there just isn't much here and I would argue the show is a bit cluttered and could have done with some having a smaller role.
Story The story is where the show really falls down, it is just absolutely absurd. It starts off trying to set the show in pretty realistic conditions but as it goes on you realise just how crazy it starts to get and how it is just laughable. It also doesn't help how predictable it is, I worked out what was going on by the end of the first episode and that was a big issue for me. The ending is also too abrupt, it leaves you wondering what happened to the majority of the characters and that is a big let down.
Script The script does have some okay dramatic dialogue that makes the interactions feel more intense. But it also feels quite superficial, it is also a pretty dour show and that makes it hard to stick with, especially with its slower pace. Now I don't mind if a show wants to push a message, this show is clearly pushing the feminism message and that is fine, but why do shows like this have to make every male character a scumbag, it just takes me out of it and feels like the message is outweighing the actual show.
Style The show is filmed well enough but it is so boring. The show trundles its way through the episodes and it can't keep the suspense and drama up enough for me. It is a shame that this is the case as the set design is pretty good but I fear people won't even bother watching till the end.
Overall Overall, Rules of the Game is a poor show that misses the mark. It clearly has a message but it executes it badly and I would say give this one a miss.
Rating - 3/10.