Article first published as TV Review: MOSAIC on Seat42F.
Note: this review is about the television miniseries MOSAIC. It does not review the app.
HBO is premiering something quite
experimental this week. Called MOSAIC and presented on five consecutive
nights, the six-hour story concerns the murder of children’s author
Olivia Lake and its four-year aftermath. With an all-star cast, Steven
Soderbergh cuts together a narrative first developed for an interactive
app, which allowed users to follow one of two murder suspects through
the story, as well as view related ‘evidence.’ The result here is a
professional director’s combining of the plotlines.
Soderbergh (Red Oaks, The Knick) is
well-respected and often well-reviewed, known for balancing multiple
narratives, a la Traffic, so he seems a natural choice for such an
ambitious, ground-breaking project. Not just anyone could pull such a
thing off, and so it makes sense that HBO would entrust a talent like
his to get it done. He has a certain style that does show up in the
series.
The cast has been stocked with some very
talented performers, including Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct, Casino) as
Olivia and Garrett Hedlund (On the Road) and Frederick Weller (In Plain
Sight) as the two main suspects. The supporting players include
Jennifer Ferrin (Hell On Wheels), Beau Bridges (Masters of Sex), Jeremy
Bobb (The Knick), Paul Reubens (Pee-wee’s Playhouse), Maya Kazan (The
Knick), Michael Cerveris (Fringe), Allison Tolman (Fargo), James Ransome
(Bosch), and many more. So the cast is certainly not the reason it
would fail.
But, in my opinion, despite the immense
talent involved, it does fail. As a narrative, it is disjointed, jerky,
and boring. I found it extremely hard to follow, and the characters less
than interesting. I don’t know if the app provided a better experience,
but at least in the one hour I viewed, I found it far below the quality
level I’ve come to expect from HBO shows. I was delighted to learn it
is a miniseries, played out quickly, airing in a single week, than a
drama that would potentially run for a long time. Mainly because of the
chance I am wrong and it resonates with critics at large, forcing me to
play catch up just to stay current on television, which will be
unnecessary for a miniseries.
I can’t say the hour is totally without
merit. Most of the actors do deliver good performances. Stone herself is
fantastic, and the bits of MOSAIC that do captivate me, few and far
between as they are, generally involve her and Reubens, who I also
really enjoy. Some of Weller’s stuff, including his chemistry with
Stone, is also very good. But those moments are not enough to hold my
interest in between.
The story itself just doesn’t feel all
that well constructed. There are a LOT of characters and connections to
keep track off, and with the constant, abrupt movements in setting, it
becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. There just isn’t enough time
spent with certain individuals for the audience to grasp who they are
and what they want before it moves on, usually to something totally
unrelated, or so it seems. Parts shown out of order don’t help. Perhaps
if I binged the whole thing at once, some general picture would emerge,
mosaic-like, from the fray. I just don’t see the draw in episode one.
Now, I concede there are likely fans of
the app who got really into solving the mystery and following all the
clues. Those people might like to see the whole story edited together
like this into one narrative, and already having prior knowledge of the
proceedings, could follow it more easily.
But if you’re just planning to tune into MOSAIC as a show, I’d recommend skipping it.
MOSAIC premieres Monday at 8/7c and runs throughout this week on HBO.
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