merelyaninnuendo
The Night Manager3 And A Half Out Of 5The Night Manager is a character driven mini-series adapted from the novel by John Le Carre, that swept away three Golden Globes on the acting category and was nominated for the best series too. As much as simple the plot is, despite of its genre, it doesn't unnecessarily grows convoluted or even attempts to make impossible possible. And such simplistic reasons is why it connects with the audience instantly and stays true to its tone throughout the course of it. The adapted screenplay by Farr is smart as it glorifies each little moments with equal dignity keeping the audience enchanted in its self-created tense bubble that doesn't pop but explodes. Addition to that, it not only is edited perfectly but each character's perspective is accounted in perfectly for it to justify the actions. It is rich on technical aspects like sharp sound effects, stunning live locations, alluring costume design and metaphorical cinematography that seeks viewers' attention through it. Beir; the director, is ahead of her game and the viewers, for her description of a sequence is not only electrifying but thought-provoking too; she is in your head from the start. The performance objective is the ace in the hole for the series, since the casting pays off more than well, as Hiddleston, Laurie and Colman have genuinely invested their heart in it. Pragmatic conversations, three-dimensional characters, tense environment and stellar performances are the high points of this mini-series. Beir's world in here is bolder, faster and scarier than it may seem and no matter how many times the makers plays their "close call" theme, it never gets old, it never gets dull. The Night Manager isn't shady or twisted as one's usual spy thriller and is instead beautiful on visual aesthetics and neat on terms of projecting the questionable morality where "the dirty work" is left upto viewers' imagination; a slick move.
William Corden... read 'em and weep
This is just dross ala Turks and Caicos TV series from a while back. Poor editing , the shallowest of character development and a plot that takes the suspension of reality way beyond that new spiral galaxy they've just found. Huddleston (or whatever his name is) is able to bang every chick he comes into contact with, despite them being arm candy for extremely dangerous characters. He goes from a Hotel Desk Night Manager to a super duper fighting machine in one overnight shift, yet still retains his empathy for an overly cute little English kid (and I can't stand overly cute English kids). Despite the makeover he shows no charisma whatsoever and yet he charms and hoodwinks all of the nasty characters around him with a flat personality and the slimmest of background alibis. Heck even I would have rooted him out! As for the women in this cast, I don't think I've EVER seen such a wholesale casting mistake in anything I've watched. They are, without exception, wooden ,shallow vessels just thrown in as filler for this memoryfoam pillow of a movie. If the feminists want a cause to fire up the troops, then they should go after the casting director and the scriptwriters of this project and have them removed from society.From stem to stern the female acting in this series is nothing short of awful, the only qualification seems to be that most of them were prepared to flash a bit of nudity whenever it wasn't required.Phew ! And I'm only on season one! Should I force myself to endure the subsequent seasons or should I use my common sense and realize there's no hope for redemption? I think you all know the answer, you'll find me watching Jeopardy reruns if you're looking for me. Cheers BillC
Reno Rangan
SEASON 01:The British television series has a special status in me. Usually they won't disappoint me, particularly one under the banner of the BBC. I was expecting it, and also it took time for me to give it a try. After so many months delay, I finally saw and liked it. One of the best secret intelligence-thriller. When it comes to the basic narrative, there's nothing new. You know it's a man was sent to get close to the international criminal and pass all the details to the security agency. Yeah, it's that simple, yet a bit differently done in here.It is a mini-series with six episodes and each one was like an individual film in a spy film franchise. Yeah, that would have not been a bad idea. Surely it would have been one of the best films of its kind. Anyway, the narration shifts its locations all over the world in each episode. There's no preserved secret in the tale, everything was told in a straightforward narration. But comes to the point whenever it needed. Then what makes it so powerful is the performances, especially all the lead ones, including, Tom Hiddleton, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Debicki, Olivian Colman and a few others.The night manager in one of the leading hotels in Cairo unexpectedly gets into an international criminal affair. But he escapes unhurt, except hurt in the heart. Following that, a few years later on the different part of the world, again he meets the same gang and this time he tries to do the right thing. The plan is to infiltrate and collect all the information. He succeeds in getting in, but what are the challenges he is going to face are the remaining suspense parts told.Liked the casting, locations, the making was awesome. Looks very carefully carved product. Highest budget television product from the BBC till date and it all paid off back with the great recognition all around. The details are good, it took time to get everything right, otherwise it would have been 3-4 episode series. It won three Golden Globes, three BAFTA and two Emmies. Almost recognised in all the important sections as it deserved for awards. If you love television series, then this one is not to be missed. The same old theme, concept, but brilliantly reshaped with fine actors and in locations with music and all. Recommended!8/10
egasulla
OK, maybe not dead altogether, but dated for sure. LeCarre worked -and subsequently became a writer- in a time before religion mixed with (or took over?) politics and suicide bombers took over suave gun-carrying secret agents. So his adventures look dated per se. Yet, his skeptical view of international politics allows him to be enjoyable by the readers, or viewers, who do not believe everything is black or white. The hallmark of a LeCarre story is, halfway through it you are still unsure of who to root for (sometimes all the way to the end) Sadly, all that is lost in this adaptation. The villains may be charming, but it's very clear they are baaaaad, and if the good guys (they are depicted in crystal clear manner too) don't get them, their own clients will. All the bad guys get is the sarcastic one liners -but in the end they are going down. It's a Bond plot without the gadgets, which are the only thing that makes Bond movies barely watchable.It could be a consequence of the American market, where gray toned nuances have never been popular, and are soundly rejected by today's good-beats-bad, happy-ending-seeking crowd. But the fact that English actors and crew work in this one, and it was indeed premiered in Brit TV before coming to the US, seems to say that our friends across the pond have also grown tired of moral ambiguity. So, I guess a London-based superhero is coming soon to the small screen -while in the real world, people die in conflicts which are not even remotely similar to these ones.