Post by sgev1977 on May 5, 2018 17:21:14 GMT
Another review of the first two episodes:
Variety:
variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/tv-review-patrick-melrose-benedict-cumberbatch-1202789439/
Variety:
Even as a heroin addict, Benedict Cumberbatch is riveting.
Through much of the pilot, the title character remains what he was bred to be: an English gentleman. He just happens to be an English gentleman with an extraordinarily nasty smack habit.
Cumberbatch is his usual convincing self as the druggy Patrick Melrose, meaning he’s often slimy, contorted in agony, and at points, looks as if he smells rather gamy. Yet when he’s onscreen in Showtime’s limited series, you can’t turn away for a second.
He commands every scene, an impressive job considering he spends a fair amount of time alone on screen. And while he handles dialogue with grace and style, some of his most impressive scenes are played wordlessly; in one, he uses that long body to druggily traverse a swanky hotel mezzanine as the floor rises up to greet him.
Translating Edward St. Aubyn’s richly literate prose certainly presented a challenge to the filmmakers: His five poetic books examine the interior life of a self-destructive yet self-aware man in a way that isn’t dialogue-driven or even obviously filmic. Yet Edward Berger’s direction and David Nicholls’ screenplay deftly bring the characters to the screen.
Through much of the pilot, the title character remains what he was bred to be: an English gentleman. He just happens to be an English gentleman with an extraordinarily nasty smack habit.
Cumberbatch is his usual convincing self as the druggy Patrick Melrose, meaning he’s often slimy, contorted in agony, and at points, looks as if he smells rather gamy. Yet when he’s onscreen in Showtime’s limited series, you can’t turn away for a second.
He commands every scene, an impressive job considering he spends a fair amount of time alone on screen. And while he handles dialogue with grace and style, some of his most impressive scenes are played wordlessly; in one, he uses that long body to druggily traverse a swanky hotel mezzanine as the floor rises up to greet him.
Translating Edward St. Aubyn’s richly literate prose certainly presented a challenge to the filmmakers: His five poetic books examine the interior life of a self-destructive yet self-aware man in a way that isn’t dialogue-driven or even obviously filmic. Yet Edward Berger’s direction and David Nicholls’ screenplay deftly bring the characters to the screen.
They are showy parts for actors, and both Leigh and Weaving clearly relish them.
So it’s hardly a drawback that the second episode, set in the South of France in 1967, focuses more on them than Cumberbatch. Beautifully designed and lit, the hour painfully illuminates Patrick’s wretched childhood. The terrific young Sebastian Maltz brings out all the hesitancy, loneliness and misery which filled the 9-year-old Patrick. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out why, 15 years later, Patrick has a serious drug habit.
With only the first two episodes available, and those being so different in tone and view – the second one harkens more to the nasty familial tensions and vicious verbal gymnastics of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — it’s folly to guess how the others will unfold. Yet the pair deliver a solid promise that we are in for something very special.
And proof that, however harrowing they become, Cumberbatch will keep us watching.
So it’s hardly a drawback that the second episode, set in the South of France in 1967, focuses more on them than Cumberbatch. Beautifully designed and lit, the hour painfully illuminates Patrick’s wretched childhood. The terrific young Sebastian Maltz brings out all the hesitancy, loneliness and misery which filled the 9-year-old Patrick. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out why, 15 years later, Patrick has a serious drug habit.
With only the first two episodes available, and those being so different in tone and view – the second one harkens more to the nasty familial tensions and vicious verbal gymnastics of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — it’s folly to guess how the others will unfold. Yet the pair deliver a solid promise that we are in for something very special.
And proof that, however harrowing they become, Cumberbatch will keep us watching.
variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/tv-review-patrick-melrose-benedict-cumberbatch-1202789439/