My wife and I really enjoyed this -- right up until the ending. There isn't a weak performance in it. The characters are well drawn and the viewers readily come to care about them, even the less than admirable ones. That is why the ending is a disaster. What were the writer and producers thinking? How could they leave the viewers wondering about what was going to happen to so many of these characters? To us, it seemed a real betrayal of the fans. It seems to us that the writer spent four episodes carefully crafting a sad, but beautiful structure, only in the end to pour gasoline all over it and toss in a match.
Reviews
4 Reviews
The Pale Horse
(2020)
What a waste of talent
5 June 2021
This self-indulgent, meandering, disjointed, incoherent adaptation completely betrays the essential purpose of classic mysteries: to restore moral order. The choices the writer made in adapting the story make absolutely no sense whatsoever. At the end, we are just baffled... what was the point of it all.
With the talented cast, a good adaptation, and a good director this could have been an excellent film.
Don't waste your time.
With the talented cast, a good adaptation, and a good director this could have been an excellent film.
Don't waste your time.
River
(2015)
One of the best miniseries we've seen in years
19 November 2015
Beautifully done -- writing, acting, direction, everything. Unlike some other reviewers, my wife and I found the stretching of our perceptions that River's hallucinations required of us only deepened our immersion in the emotional truth of the story. It made River's journey all the more moving.
Special praise must go to the superb ensemble of actors, especially Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker. Such beautifully nuanced performances!
We sincerely hope there will be another case that will allow us to join River on another journey.
Special praise must go to the superb ensemble of actors, especially Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker. Such beautifully nuanced performances!
We sincerely hope there will be another case that will allow us to join River on another journey.
Simply dreadful
6 July 2015
Even allowing for the fact that this was a product if early live TV, this "adaptation" of the Fleming novel is quite dreadful. There were a lot of truly great, even legendary, productions for early live TV.
The principal problem with this episode is the casting of Barry Nelson as Bond -- and changing Bond to an American. Nelson completely fails to bring Bond to life. He totally lacks the charisma and dangerousness of James Bond. There is also zero chemistry between Nelson and Linda Christian, the supposed "love interest." Even Peter Lorre seems to be sleepwalking through his performance as Le Chiffre.
The second fatal flaw in this production is that it completely fails to develop any real believable tension or sense of something important being at risk. The pacing is pretty plodding throughout.
Some of the weakness of this production is in being forced to condense the story into 50 minutes. There is zero room for character development. However, I don't believe Nelson would have given us a credible James Bond even with two hours to do it in.
So, this production is of historical interest as the first filmed adaptation of a James Bond story, but not of much interest otherwise.
The principal problem with this episode is the casting of Barry Nelson as Bond -- and changing Bond to an American. Nelson completely fails to bring Bond to life. He totally lacks the charisma and dangerousness of James Bond. There is also zero chemistry between Nelson and Linda Christian, the supposed "love interest." Even Peter Lorre seems to be sleepwalking through his performance as Le Chiffre.
The second fatal flaw in this production is that it completely fails to develop any real believable tension or sense of something important being at risk. The pacing is pretty plodding throughout.
Some of the weakness of this production is in being forced to condense the story into 50 minutes. There is zero room for character development. However, I don't believe Nelson would have given us a credible James Bond even with two hours to do it in.
So, this production is of historical interest as the first filmed adaptation of a James Bond story, but not of much interest otherwise.
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