Friday, October 09, 2009

...and justice for all?


Are you enjoying Criminal Justice? You know, the Maxine Peake powerhouse in which she plays a woman accused of murdering her husband, a high-falutin' barrister and all round control freak played by Matthew McFadyen with great menace.

Me too, only I'm finding it's not as good as it thinks it is. It knows it's got a great cast and is well written, so it's all a bit self-conscious. Who dares criticise it?

The first episode was fantastic. I went to the launch, and on the big screen it was super-tense and really gripping. The following three episodes have dragged a little to be honest.

We want to know why she stabbed the bastard. What went on in their marriage we don't yet know about? She's so backward in coming forward you just want to shake her! Come on, Maxine, tell all, before we all lose interest. So was there abuse? Was McFaddyen supplying the dealer? I could ask more and more questions but if you've not seen it, I'd be giving plot points away and we don't want that.

Anyway, I'm going to see it out, but I just hope it doesn't disappoint.

5 comments:

Clair said...

I'm lovin' it. Haven't seen such a strong range of roles for women in a contemporary drama for ages, which is to be applauded in itself. Maxine is a wonder.

Helen said...

We're mad about it in our house, though think we'll have to watch tonight's one 'on demand' as the kids get to stay up later on Fridays...hope they put it on the iplayer the minute it finishes. It's obv going to have a few twists and turns, did you catch Ella playing with the dolls last night? I do like Maxine and have since first seeing her in dinnerladies, also Matthew who I used to fancy but now find a bit too beefy looking, I know it comes to us all with age!

Jon Peake said...

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it, and I'm dying to know what happens. There will be a huge twist, i just know it.

Bright Ambassador said...

I'm having a Criminal Justice, Micro Men, Electric Dreams and Generation Kill marathon this week as they've all been on past my bedtime. No, really.

TimT said...

So, what did you think of the ending? (I just caught up with it last night.) The twist was a bit far-fetched - I won't say what it was, in case anyone reading this hasn't seen it yet - but overall it was worth holding on for, I thought.

I agree with you about the infuriating passivity of the main character. Also, surely anyone who committed a crime like that who had a history of depression would be submitted to comprehensive psychiatric assessments and the like? We didn't see any of that. It seemed to take ages for the police to even get round to talking to her doctor, and then they didn't ask the right questions.

I know it's a drama, and they have to take some liberties, but there were some big holes.

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