THE SLAP Stings

Article first published as THE SLAP Review on Seat42F.

Zachary Quinto as Harry, Thomas Sadoski as Gary | THE SLAP | Photo : Virginia Sherwood/NBC

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NBC’s new mini-series, THE SLAP, premiered last night. Based on the book of the same name, and following a successful Australian adaptation, this drama tells the story of a man slapping a child who is not his own at a party and the fallout from the incident. It will unfold over eight weeks, presumably showing us the varied lives of the group gathered who witness the encounter, as well as what happens to the man who slaps.

THE SLAP starts out interestingly enough. Narrated by the great Victor Garber (Alias, Titanic, Eli Stone), viewers are introduced to Hector (Peter Sarsgaard, The Killing, Jarhead), a man just turning 40 who is passed over for a major promotion at work. Hector is also frustrated with his wife, Aisha (Thandie Newton, Rogue), the type of woman who passes up a free vacation to Greece because she’s busy with her job, which leads to him fantasizing about the babysitter, Connie (Makenzie Leigh, Gotham). Hector is able to resist those fantasies until he finds out that Connie shares them, but even then, he’s not willingly to all-out cheat on his wife. Yet, anyway.

The first twenty minutes of the show, painting the portrait above, are actually interesting. They’re not wholly original, of course, a restless man in a mid-life crisis being a familiar archetype, as is the ingénue that catches his attention. But because Sarsgaard and Garber are involved, I liken it to a weaker version of The Affair playing out, and it’s good.

Unfortunately, the show goes downhill fast when everyone else arrives at Peter’s house for his birthday party. Suddenly, there are lots of people whom the show does a poor job of explaining the relationships between, mentioning a few connections, but mainly just tossing everyone together. There are also some very flat roles, and tons (and I do mean tons) of foreshadowing for the upcoming conflict. The party sequence takes what seems like a higher-quality, quiet drama and turns it into a predictable cartoon.

This is most obvious in the dynamic between fathers Harry (Zachary Qunito, American Horror Story, Star Trek) and Gary (Thomas Sadoski, The Newsroom), as well the behavior of Gary’s son, Hugo (Dylan Schombing, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce). Hugo is the epitome of an out-of-control, spoiled brat, making messes on purpose and endangering the other children. Gary and his wife, Rosie (Melissa George, The Good Wife, reprising the role from the Australian version), don’t punish Hugo, allowing the walking, talking kid to breast feed instead. This offends Harry, who has extreme anger issues, and Gary and Harry bicker often.

The slap itself is equally ludicrous. The kid is a brat, absolutely, and should be spanked (in my opinion) – by his parents. Instead, Harry slaps him not to stop an action being taken, but to get his attention and to punish. I know there are anger issues involved, but what kind of grown man hits a child in their face, hard, especially in those circumstances? Harry is a complete, irredeemable monster, and his lack of being apologetic is inexcusable, even among those who approval of corporal punishment.

I think all of the telegraphing of the event is worse than the slap itself because, not only is the series called THE SLAP, but promos for it heavily feature Harry smacking Hugo. I haven’t seen the Australian version and have no idea how it was marketed, so I’m judging the U.S. production purely on its own approach. I’d probably still object if I didn’t know Harry and Hugo were the two involved in the titular event because of the lack of subtlety in how the situation is presented, but if viewers weren’t aware of who slapped who, at least THE SLAP could trick us with teasing several possibilities instead of delivering something so ridiculously packaged.

I don’t blame the failure of THE SLAP’s first episode on the cast. All of those listed above are usually great performers (though Quinto seems miscast here), and they are joined by Uma Thurman (Smash, Kill Bill), Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl, Easy A), Brian Cox (Braveheart), Marin Ireland (Homeland, Masters of Sex), Maria Tucci (Law & Order), and Lucas Hedges (Moonrise Kingdom). This is a pretty strong ensemble, so if they can’t make a script work, that’s saying something, unfortunately.

Still, The Slap is not completely without promise. Like I said, I really enjoyed the first twenty minutes or so. If the other seven episodes can really focus on character development, using the actors’ strengths to tell a moving, personal drama, it could be worth watching. But the sheer shallowness and sloppiness of most of this first hour is disappointing, so while I’ll probably give the series a second chance, if it doesn’t clean up its act, it likely won’t get a third.

The Slap airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Don't Want to Play THE GAME

Article first published as THE GAME Review on Seat42F.

BBC America begins airing the six-part period spy drama THE GAME this week. Set in 1970s Cold War Britain, it features a cat-and-mouse game of espionage between the KGB and MI5, racing against time to stop deep conspiracies full of hidden cells and double-agents. It is created and written by Toby Whitehouse of Being Human fame.

I used a number of tired clichés in that first paragraph, but there’s really no other way to describe this program. This genre has become quite crowded with copycats, and while Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and others might be excellent period pieces with beautiful sets and costumes and intelligent, twisty writing, the seventh time you see something in that vein, it loses its magic.

There is nothing wrong with THE GAME itself. It’s a well-made, stylistically terrific, smart drama. The characters are interesting, the pacing is slow, as it often is in these British-made programs, but moves along with enough surprises to stay interesting. The acting is wonderful and the writing is fine. The settings make it visually engaging, and the color palette sets an appropriate tone for the story being told. I’m really not finding any specific aspect to complain about.

Except, the entire time I was watching the first part, I kept feeling like I’d already seen this before. The names and faces blur together enough that I don’t know exactly what will come next, but I do know the general direction things are going in and that some characters will shift allegiances or be exposed as villains or die. Like a dozen other series and miniseries that have aired in the past few years, and even before that, THE GAME follows an extremely familiar pattern and cadence that lacks originality and freshness. Because of this, it’s more boring than it should be.

I feel like British spy dramas have become that country’s version of the American crime procedural (or the British crime procedural, for that matter). Every “new” version is just a slight variation on a relatively strict formula. It’s a formula that works extremely well or the producers wouldn’t keep making it, but those that produce this sort of thing do not do nearly enough to set their piece apart from any other. THE GAME is as guilty of this as any other recent example that springs to mind. That’s why I’m going to skip watching this one and stick to something more serial, like FX’s The Americans, and unless you haven’t seen one of these in awhile, I recommend you do the same.

For those interested, THE GAME stars Tom Hughes (Page Eight) as Joe Lambe, a young malcontent who may or may not have a soul left. Joe’s plot makes up the framework story, as viewers see glimpses of him accompanied by an attractive woman meeting with KGB agents on the coast. Obviously, this meeting goes awry. The audience won’t know where Joe’s true loyalties lie any time soon. Is he trying to defect to the Soviets? Is he tricking them for Queen and country? Does he return to his home to serve as a double agent or to stop a nefarious scheme? It’s impossible to tell yet.

Joe’s boss is Daddy (Brian Cox, Braveheart). Well respected in the department, savvy and paranoid, Daddy is the type of leader you’d expect to see in a secret group within MI5, played by an actor with the gravitas to handle the role, a definite plus for THE GAME, if not an unusual one. Will Daddy’s skills be sharp enough to figure out the secrets behind Operation Glass, or has he aged out of his usefulness? Will his pride or his suspicion be his undoing?

THE GAME airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on BBC America.

Blu-ray Review: An Adventure in Space and Time

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: ‘Doctor Who’ – ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ on Blogcritics.

As part of Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary celebration, BBC America aired a made-for-TV movie called An Adventure in Space and Time. This two-hour film gives us a piece of the story of the early days at the BBC when Doctor Who was first being made, with a focus on the show’s first titular star, William Hartnell (David Bradley, Harry Potter, Broadchurch), and producer Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine, Call the Midwife).

This project is a huge one to tackle. Not only does An Adventure in Space and Time reveal the origins of a legendary show, which is one of the longest-running series ever, but it also represents a bold, brave era for the network, an important tale to tell. Talk about groundbreaking, Doctor Who was the BBC’s first real attempt at science fiction and Lambert was the youngest producer at the network, the only female producer at the time. An important tale of this magnitude deserves better than this TV movie, unfortunately.

Now, let me preface my opinion by saying An Adventure in Space and Time is pretty good, definitely enjoyable. I think the acting is terrific, and I am excited to learn new things about this show and era. It is well-paced and the production looks good.

But it feels like a TV movie, rather than an epic film, not a good choice for such an iconic moment in history. Much of the story is told in small vignettes, stand-alone occurrences, rather than a cohesive narrative. Either Verity or Hartnell could easily rate their own full movie, but instead, each part is cut down so that there’s room for them both in one production. By combining them, both are under-served, without much exploration as to what Verity herself did to help the show along. Hartnell’s plot is bit more complete, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, but still, I would like a few more details, including a slower descent at the end. Not to mention, the film starts at the end then flashes back to the beginning, a tired trope that comes across as quite cheesy.

Bradley and Raine could pull off more complex versions of the roles, I’m sure. They both manage to get a lot into their parts, conveying beyond what’s on the page. We see Hartnell’s rise and fall, and what it costs him. We see Verity coming into her own. Were they given more time, or if this were made into a miniseries rather than confined to two hours, these actors could have absolutely risen to an award-bait level.

They are joined by Sacha Dhawan (Outsourced, Chuggington) as director Waris Hussein, another part that feels like it didn’t get is due. While playing a smaller role in the history, and thus confined to only a portion of the movie, Dhawan makes an impact. Sadly, he is not developed much beyond filling a vital, but small, position.

Other than those three, most of the rest of the cast are merely on the sidelines, with only a couple that sort of stand out a bit. Brian Cox’s (Bob Servant Independent, Deadwood) Sydney Newman is overblown and cartoonish, in a good way, fitting for someone of his temperament in his position. Claudia Grant seems to capture Carole Ann Ford perfectly. Lesley Manville, Jeff Rawle, Jemma Powell, and Jamie Glover all play parts that should matter, but are largely forgettable, likely more because of a lack of focus from the script than the performers themselves.

Luckily, this release is flush with extras. The very first Doctor Who serial, “An Unearthly Child,” is included in its entirety (with its own bonus features) so fans can compare the look of An Adventure in Space and Time to the actual episodes. There’s a “Making Of” narrated by Carole Ann Ford herself, as well as a featurette on William Hartnell, delete scenes, and reconstructions. Best of all (in my mind) is a comedy sketch about the creation of Doctor Who starring producer Mark Gatiss and David Walliams. These help make the set feel worth it, and as I said, the film itself isn’t bad, if you can get past the squandered potential.

An Adventure in Space and Time is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

An Adventure in Space and Time

Article first published as TV Review: 'An Adventure in Space and Time' on Blogcritics.

As part of Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary celebration, which was in full swing last week, BBC America aired a made-for-TV movie called An Adventure in Space and Time. This two-hour film takes us back to the early days at the BBC, when Doctor Who was first being made, and gives us a piece of that story, with a focus on the show’s first titular star, William Hartnell (David Bradley, Harry Potter, Broadchurch), and producer Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine, Call the Midwife).

An Adventure in Space and Time is an important tale. Not only does it reveal the origins of a legendary series which is one of the longest-running shows ever, but it also represents a bold, brave era for the network. It was the BBC’s first real attempt at science fiction. Lambert was the youngest producer there, and the only female producer at the time. Because of this, it deserves better.

I won’t say I didn’t enjoy An Adventure in Space and Time. It was actually pretty good. I thought the acting was terrific, and I was excited to learn new things about this show and era. It was well-paced and the production looked good.

But it felt like a TV movie, rather than an epic film. Much of the story was told in small vignettes, stand-alone occurrences, rather than a cohesive tale. Either Verity or Hartnell could rate their own full movie, but instead, each part is cut down so that there’s room for them both here. I felt like both were under served in this way, without much exploration as to what Verity herself did to help the show along. Hartnell’s plot is bit more complete, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, but still, I would have liked a few more details, including a slower descent at the end, and the cheesiness of starting at the end then flashing back should not have been allowed.

Bradley and Raine could pull off more complex versions of the roles, I’m sure. They both manage to get a lot into their parts, conveying beyond what’s on the page. We see Hartnell’s rise and fall, and what it costs him. We see Verity coming into her own. Were they given more time, or if this were made into a miniseries, rather than confined to two hours, these actors could have absolutely risen to an award-bait level.

They are joined by Sacha Dhawan (Outsourced, Chuggington) as director Waris Hussein. Waris is another part that feels like it didn’t get is due. While playing a smaller role in the history, and thus confined to only a portion of the movie, Dhawan makes an impact. Sadly, he is not developed much beyond filling a vital, but small, position.

Other than those three, most of the rest of the cast are merely on the sidelines, with only a couple that sort of stand out a bit. Brian Cox’s (Bob Servant Independent, Deadwood) Sydney Newman is overblown and cartoonish, in a good way, fitting for someone of his temperament in his position. Claudia Grant seems to capture Carole Ann Ford perfectly. Lesley Manville, Jeff Rawle, Jemma Powell, and Jamie Glover all play parts that should matter, but are largely forgettable, likely more because of a lack of focus from the script than the performers themselves.

I do think An Adventure in Space and Time is worth watching; as I said, I enjoyed it. I just mourn for the potential that hasn’t been reached, especially when there is never a more opportune time for a project such as this.