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gilliann
Reviews
Jericho (2005)
Rave Review
I just saw the first two episodes of Jericho, and I can't believe this show never made it to a second series! I read that the audience was smaller after the first episode aired, but it seems like there are definitely shows that keep getting made even if they're insipid & nobody watches them, so why does a genius program like this get canceled? Jericho's definitely as compelling as Foyle was, and the 50's style is so wonderfully atmospheric, so well-done, I felt like I was watching something made in that decade. The plots are powerful, the acting's great, and the cinematography gorgeous -- what's the downside? There isn't one -- so who do I petition to get them to pick it up again and make more episodes? I'm looking forward to seeing Eps. 3 and 4, but already sad that there aren't any more after that!
A Room with a View (2007)
Casting: A+; Davies' Rewrite: F-
CASTING: A+ -- I thought that George Emerson in this production had a down-to-earth sexiness that was much more appealing than Julian Sands' version. The class differences were emphasized to very good effect in this one -- by comparison, Sands' Mr. Emerson seemed like an aristocrat, which made it harder to see the family's class objections. Lucy and the other characters were all played very well also -- the only character I didn't love was the elder Mr. Emerson, who was too much of a broad caricature for me here -- I preferred him in the original version, where he was my favorite character altogether. (I must admit that since Harry Potter, I can't see Timothy Spall without ears and whiskers -- he will be Peter Pettigrew/Scabbers forever in my mind).
PLOT-CHANGE: F- This actually ruined the whole thing for me -- it made me furious! I never read the Forster novel, so after watching Davies' ending, I assumed that this must have been Forster's original ending, and reasoned that the Merchant/Ivory version must have been re-fitted with a false happy ending, because who would ever do the reverse? However, as I cried for fifteen minutes after the program ended, I knew that I definitely preferred the happy ending, manufactured or not -- the tragedy just seemed WRONG. How much angrier I was when I found out that Forster's novel DID have a happy ending! Good God! (Is that who Andrew Davies thinks he is?!) I've never heard of adapting a novel by changing the ending into a tragedy -- it doesn't fit, it subverts the whole point, and it ruined my evening. Andrew Davies, get over your pseudo-artistic self -- that stupid, ridiculous ending was a travesty. If Davies wanted to get attention for originality, he certainly did -- and from the reviews I've seen, it's overwhelmingly in the form of disgust.