Two-time Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn stars as DCI Vera Stanhope a solitary, obsessed, caustic, brilliant investigator, and a bit disheveled; think female Columbo.
From AcornTV you can stream 6 years of this British TV series which first started in 2011 and went on for 7 years through 2017. AcornTV does not offer 2017. Each year, or “set”, consists of 4 episodes. Surely 24 episodes will keep you busy for awhile (binge – anyone ?). Each episode is approximately 1.5 hours.
DCI Vera is as personally distant as her sidekick DS Joe Ashworth (played by David Leon) is personable. An important thread in the series is their relationship. For example, Vera’s refusal in one episode to even consider being the Godmother to Joe’s latest newborn child is really hurtful. But Joe seems to understand her aloofness and accepts it begrudgingly. In one episode Joe insists on taking Vera for a doctor’s visit because of her sudden stress-related faintness.
Just remember that British police procedurals are not for the faint of heart. Could that be why I enjoy them so much?
Preparing for the 1988 Olympics, two sibling wrestlers cross paths with a paranoid schizophrenic millionaire in this drama based on a true story. The competitive Schultz brothers soon learn their new acquaintance is a dangerous distraction.
Steve Carell makes such a perfect creep that the tension never leaves the film. You just sit there waiting for him to explode. Meanwhile he tries to make Channing Tatum emotionally dependent on him as a father substitute using psychological trickery such as introducing him to cocaine, encouraging him to imbibe, and especially trying to turn Tatum away from his brother Mark Ruffalo. Tatum plays a fatherless young man emotionally dependent on his brother, who has been a father to Tatum his whole life. To a degree Tatum resents his dependence on Ruffalo and Carell uses that as amunition in his increasingly jealous conflict with Ruffalo. Another detail in the story is Carell’s constant but useless efforts to gain the approval of his horse-obsessed mother.
If the story seems harsh, remember that it is based on a true story. For a reference see the Wikipedia article. Be sure to read the final historical follow-ups.
Not a happy story, just a film that is as good as it is ugly.
