Category Archives: Acceptable for teenagers

No Second Chance (2015)

From IMDB:

A doctor is shot in the back in her home, her husband is murdered and her infant daughter kidnapped. Faced with inept police, who at times suspect her, she begins her own hunt for her baby and the culprits.

From PBS Masterpiece (Passport) you can stream the 6 episodes of this Harlan Coben thriller which, oddly enough,  was made in France and has English subtitles.  Each episode lasts about an hour.

Harlan Coben was born in Newark, N.J.  If you like thrillers with lots of plot twists and have never read one of Coben’s many novels, you are in for a treat.

Having said that,  although I feverishly binged through the six episodes,  this presentation left a bit to be desired.  Do not be disenchanted by the first two episodes which contain too many swat teams for my taste. After these first two episodes my wife stopped watching, having decided that the series was ordinary and clichéd. But I persisted to the final sappy, happy ending.  Sadly, there were a lot of unfinished side threads.  For me, the book was better.

Nevertheless, a watchable rouge romp featuring a truly psychopathic villainess.

Mrs. Wilson (2018)

From IMDB:

After the sudden death of novelist and ex-Secret Intelligence Service man Alexander Wilson, his wife Alison is forced to investigate when mysteries from her husband’s past come knocking.

From PBS Passport (also called PBS Masterpiece Streaming) you can stream the 3 episodes of this Masterpiece drama. Each episode is less than an hour.

MrsWilson is based on the true story of actress Ruth Wilson’s grandmother, Alison, who discovered, upon the sudden death of her husband Alec, that he had another, secret family. … And it’s up to Alison to prevent her family and her world from being torn apart as she unravels them, one at a time.

Ruth Wilson, who plays her grandmother Alison, and Iain Glen, who plays the intriguing Alex Wilson,  are more or less the entire story. Rather than spoil the plot for you, let it suffice to say that Alison spends all three episodes trying to piece together her late husbands “adventures.”

Certainly you have seen Iain Glenn in many different productions. For example he played Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones.  If you have never watched Ruth Wilson I would recommend your seeing her as Alison Bailey in The Affair  and as the diabolical Alice Morgan in Luther.

DO NOT MISS!

Behind Her Eyes (2021)

From Netflix:

A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife.

From Netflix you can stream the 6 episodes of this British romantic thriller. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Louise is a divorced mother with one child Adam.  David, a psychiatrist, is Louise’s boss and Adele’s husband. Adele is a mysterious  childless stay-at-home housewife.  David and Adele are not happily married. But their relationship is more ominous rather than merely not getting along. David and Louise are having a difficult affair, not the least because Louise has befriended Adele.  Rob is a gay young man who has become Adele’s best friend after Rob and Adele met during their mutual confinement in a mental institution.

If you are not yet intrigued, then throw in a paranormal element (which perfectly suits the plot and is not the least bit hokey) and lots of sex scenes.  Finally, this story has one of the best surprise endings I have ever seen.

If this last paragraph appeals to you, then DO NOT MISS!

Law and Order UK (2009)

From IMDB:

UK version of the long-running U.S. TV drama that tells the stories of two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of this police and courtroom series.  Seasons 1, 2, and 3 offer 13 episodes each. Season 4 offers 6 episodes. Season 5 offers 8 episodes.  Every episode is about 48 minutes.

For years Kathy and I have enjoyed the US version of “Law and Order” but we both agree that somehow for us the UK version is better.  Each episode is positively wrenching. Someone, innocent or guilty, will suffer greatly.  What probably adds to the plot urgency is the fact that the villains are often so arrogantly evil that we cannot wait for them to get their comeuppance.

Six characters dominate the stories: two detectives, their boss and three jurists.  Portraits of these six men and women are anything but cut and dried.  Each has a personal life that often figures in a plot.

What is a bit disturbing is how easily the series replaces characters (and as a result, actors)  Don’t fall in love with any one personality which might soon be eliminated one way or another.

There are so many plots that it is not practical trying to add enough categories in the header of this review.

Do you have time to watch 53 episodes? Better hurry and get started.

DO NOT MISS!

The Dig (2021)

From IMDB:

An archaeologist  embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.

From Netflix:

On the eve of World War II, a British widow hires a self-taught archaeologist to dig up mysterious formations on her land, leading to a staggering find.

From Netflix you can stream this wonderful 1 hour 52 minute complete film.

Ralph Fiennes (who during the filming was 59 years old) plays Basil Brown the excavator and self-taught archaeologist. Carey Mulligan (who was 36)  plays the wealthy, widowed landowner Edith Pretty.

Actually the film is a homage to Basil Brown who was a humble man with no formal education whose industrious intelligence led him through self-study to become an intuitively clever amateur archaeologist.  In fact a major point of the story is that during his lifetime he was given no credit for having discovered a 6th century Anglo Saxon burial site complete with ship and precious jewelry. Instead the glory was claimed by the “experts” who tried to wrest the project from Basil. But Edith Pretty, who is dying from faulty heart valves damaged by childhood rheumatic fever,  comes to the rescue and champions Basil and his right to complete the project which, after all, is on HER land.  All the artifacts are now in the British Museum where the explanatory signage give full credit to Basil Brown.

Remember this film is NOT a documentary. But rather a drama involving many threads featuring:  Edith’s son and who will care for him when she dies, Edith’s cousin,  a young woman excavator whose uncaring husband turns out to be gay,  Basil’s wife, and others.  World War II also plays a prominent part in the plot.

DO NOT MISS!

Elizabeth Is Missing (2019)

From PBS.org:

Returning to television for the first time in nearly three decades, two-time Academy Award®–winner Glenda Jackson stars as a woman desperately trying to solve two mysteries as she declines ever deeper into dementia, in Elizabeth Is Missing, an adaptation of Emma Healey’s acclaimed novel.

From PBS Passport currently you can stream this 1 hour 27 minute film.  Amazon Prime requires that you pay to stream.

Again from PBS.org:

Jackson astounded critics during the UK broadcast of Elizabeth Is Missing in late 2019. “Glenda Jackson shines in this heartrending whodunnit” (The Guardian); “Jackson gave one of the performances of her lifetime” (The Daily Telegraph); “Jackson is remarkable” (The Independent); “a devastatingly real performance” (The Times); “brilliant” (Radio Times).

Glenda Jackson in 2019, when the show first aired, was 83 years old.  She is remembered for her role as Alex Greville in  Sunday Bloody Sunday which was made in 1971 when she was a mere 35 years of age.

Watching   her as Maud Horsham struggle against the onset of Alzheimer’s can be profoundly upsetting.  Some of our friends could not sleep after watching the drama.  “Will this happen to me?”  is a scary question.  Just as real as her studied and accurate performance are the reactions of those who care for her:  her daughter and her grand-daughter.

If you want to see superb acting, DO NOT MISS!

 

Kieler Street (2018)

From MHz Choice:

Kieler Street is a fresh and uniquely characterful drama-thriller that deconstructs what it really means to be a “normal” person. Criminal or not, most of us are capable of doing extreme things in our pursuit of a peaceful existence – but just how far are we willing to go? In this acclaimed Norwegian drama, former criminal Jonas has started a new life in Slusvik, Scandinavia’s most peaceful little town. He has it all: a happy family, a great job and the quiet life he always wanted. But when Geir, Jonas’ AA sponsor, cracks his cover, the facade starts falling apart and Jonas realizes he’s not the only one in Slusvik with a secret. And they’re all prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the illusion they have created…

From MHz Choice you can stream the 10 episodes of this Norwegian crime drama. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Be prepared for a very disquieting story.  Should we root for Jonas who, although he supposedly is repentant and wants to reform and have a peaceful life,  is essentially a violent personality?  In addition he is easily led toward his worst impulses by a spectacularly evil psychopath William, who is also leading a second life in Slusvik. It seems that a mysterious company can be paid to give its criminal clients a second life in Slusvik. So you never know which inhabitants of the town are “second lifers.”

Driving the story towards its surprising climax is the question “Will any of these villains get caught?”  Moreover, “Will the wily and smart outside detective Marius learn the truth despite the jealous competition of the amateur and naive  local police officers?”

Would you send me your reaction to the final conclusion?

Enjoy the suspense. DO NOT MISS!

Donald Strachey (2005)

From Amazon Prime you can stream the following 4 films whose main character is the gay detective Donald Strachey.

To rate each of these films as B+ is generous.  Think of them as an amusing and diverting series of acceptable trash.  Plots can be complicated.  Throughout the series you will see the same actors in the major roles.  Any mild suspense is short-lived.

Third Man Out (2005) 1 hr 39 min

A gay detective is hired to find who has been been threatening a notorious member of the gay community noted for outing people.

Shock to the System (2006) 1 hr 39 min

A gay detective tries to solve the murder of a college student.

On the Other Hand, Death (2008) 1 hr 26 min

A mysterious client of private eye Don Strachey pays him cash to tail a woman who turns out to be an undercover officer; an older lesbian couple are victims of threats and vandalism; an old flame of his lover Tim shows up to support the older couple; neighbors are angry at the couple for refusing to sell out to a developer; and, parents are angry at one of the couple, Dorothy, for being a good guidance counselor to gay teens. Her partner, Edith, wants to move away; Dorothy is adamant about staying. When someone dies in a fire in their barn, the stakes get higher. Don, who does not believe in coincidence, gives the police enough information to stay on their good side as he pursues the truth.

Ice Blues (2008) 1 hr 38 min

Tim Callahan, aide to New York Senator Lauren Platt, is disappointed that all of the $3 million funding has been pulled from his latest pet project, a safe zone for children and youth. His personal partner, private investigator Donald Strachey, believes Tim’s passion for the project stems from the fact of his own sister’s troubled youth, she who has been missing since age seventeen. Tim believes his prayers have been answered when a man, identifying himself as a lawyer, tells him that he represents someone who wants to make a $3 million anonymous donation to the project. Those prayers turn into a nightmare when that lawyer is later found murdered, the dead body in Donald’s car. The murdered man is Jake Lenigan, a third generation lawyer in a powerful family law firm. Jake’s father was murdered twelve years earlier, the perceived suspect in that case being his wife Joan, who has since disappeared. Tim and Donald’s situation becomes even more nightmarish when Tim anonymously receives that $3 million in untraceable Euro bonds. The murderer will do whatever is necessary to get that money back from Tim and Donald, the latter who is working with the police to find Lenigan’s purpose in wanting to donate the money to Tim’s cause, find if Jake’s father’s murder has anything to do with this case, discover the owner of the money and thus the probable murderer, and most importantly protect himself and his boyfriend from being possible murder victims.

 

 

 

Roswell (2020)

From IMDB:

Centers on a town where aliens with unearthly abilities live undercover among humans. But when a violent attack points to a greater alien presence, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose them.

From Netflix;

A decade after the death of her sister, Liz reluctantly returns to her small hometown and reconnects with her teenage crush Max.

From Netflix you can stream 2 seasons of this sci-fi soap opera. Each season consists of 13 episodes, each episode usually lasting exactly 42 minutes (think of the film cutting involved!)

Ignore the seemingly serious thumb print summaries above. Nothing about this pseudo sci-fi love fest should be taken seriously. Rather the point is to just relax and enjoy the corny and acceptable trash.

As far as the virtually unknown actors let us briefly note that Nathan Parsons (who plays Max Evans) is Australian and that Jeanine Mason (who plays Liz Ortecho)  won Season 5 of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and earned the title of America’s Favorite Dancer. So much for fame!

If there is anything serious about this fun time-waster, it is the theme of the problems faced by illegal immigrants. In this respect the story is often political. Border agents are painted as racist bullies.  And there there are the fairly common difficulties of drug addiction.  Finally let us not overlook the prominent gay theme.

Because season 2 ends so abruptly,  the series demands another season.

I LOVE TRASH!

Uncle Frank (2020)

From IMDB:

In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina, for the family patriarch’s funeral, they’re unexpectedly joined by Frank’s lover, Walid.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 34 minute Amazon produced film.

In the American South of 1973 being gay was difficult, to say the least. Frank Bledsoe, a gay man,  has long ago left his southern family in small town Creekville and moved to Manhattan where he could live his life as he wanted. His lover Walid can never return to his native country Saudi Arabia (or risk being beheaded.)

Start by assuming that everyone in Creekville is homophobic.  One of the worst offenders is Frank’s father, Daddy Mac,  whose explicit denunciations helped drive Frank away from home.  When Daddy Mac dies suddenly Frank has some touch decisions: Should he go to the funeral?   Should he out himself?  Should he take Walid?

Frank’s trip back home is interwoven with tragic childhood flashbacks and enlightening discussions with his niece Beth. In addition the stressful situation prompts Frank to return to his former alcohol problem.

Needless to say Frank’s treatment during the funeral is traumatic and cruel. In a very natural way the relatives express their culturally ingrained homophobia, the usual refrain being “You will burn in hell!”

Beautifully acted, thought provoking, and tough to watch.