Reviews

Someone wrote this already, and I agree 100%...STUPIDEST reason EVER for her being in some supermax prison when she did what she did to save her daughter, WTF?!!!

While many of the documentaries marking the 20th anniversary of Diana's death have been revealing, entertaining, and a reminder of a wonderful person, this one fails for one reason: they used an actress to play Diana, which is a singularly impossible feat to perform. Acting means that one has the ability to suspend the disbelief of the audience, disbelief that they are an actor playing a role: in other words, the audience forgets they're looking at an actor, and are absorbed in the tale that is being spun. That is not possible when the person you're playing is so famous. The same thing happens with Marilyn movies. Michelle Williams playing Marilyn?! Whoever thought that up should be fired: there's not a single cell of anything in Michelle Williams that reflects MM. Same with anyone who tries to play Diana: all you're looking for is how wrong she is, how not Diana she is, how she doesn't sound, look, move like her---and the reason is that Diana was a rare creature whom no one could emulate. Same as Marilyn.

Having got that obvious comparison/failure out the way, the content was good and yes, it's always good fun to watch a documentary and constantly point out how wrong the actress is for trying to play the role they're playing!!

Seriously, who on earth believes that some pseudo-"qualified" Americans need to fly into a country to "fix" things and resolve a crime? And who wrote this script that has Alana De La Garza spouting local so called legend wherever she lands? It is painfully bad viewing.She has zero depth and I want to do to her what the perp did to the victim in episode 5. I'm kinda serious. She has no acting chops but she flips from country to country and we are expected to believe she knows all the local languages, habits, and so on, and she is no one with no background and doesn't have the strength of character to carry off such a task. Give me a break. She is so puffed up and secure in her so called knowledge of the area and country. And yeah, who believes that this crowd rolls into a country in their private plane all equipped with vehicles and weaponry? What rubbish.

The original Australian version of this series was brilliant. It worked in Australia, too, as most Aussies *would* slap that child---a horrid, spoiled, undisciplined little brat whose parents---most especially the idiot mother---needed a slap more than the child. But I'm not sure how America will react: will be interesting to watch, as the country were at the forefront of the "never slap a child" nonsense. The mixture of personalities and reactions in the series is good, but while initially you want to see particular characters dealt with harshly, as the stories unfold you see their more vulnerable sides and find yourself supporting them. Only exceptional direction and writing can do that, and this has both. The Aussie series had brilliant actors too, particularly the mother played by Melissa George in both the Aussie series and this one. She really did capture the self-righteous mother routine.