Critic's view Friday, March 19
The Age
Thursday March 18, 2010
Criminal JusticeABC1, 8.30pmBEN Whishaw is utterly believable as a young man accused of a violent rape and murder in the second episode of this five-part drama. His character, 21-year-old Ben Coulter, has picked up a girl in his dad's cab and slept with her, only to wake up to find her dead €” and himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation. In an ordinary crime drama, the action would move immediately to the trial but this series presents a more detailed picture of the criminal justice system. We see Ben struggling to survive in prison, where the guards turn a blind eye to violence between inmates. This shows what is at stake, should the jury deliver a guilty verdict. When Ben breaks down under cross-examination, you understand exactly why he is so afraid. The rest of the cast is superb, too. Con O'Neill plays Ben's shabby solicitor Ralph Stone and Pete Postlethwaite is his cellmate Hooch.Crazy Horse: the RevivalSBS One, 10pmYOU expect bare flesh in late-night documentaries on SBS and this one does not disappoint. It opens with a bevy of buttocks, attached to the svelte dancers of the Crazy Horse, a nude Parisian cabaret. When the camera moves from their breasts to their faces, the dancers have interesting stories to tell. Leslie, the youngest recruit, hopes €” perhaps naively €” the gig will lead to more classical work. Daniela, also a classical dancer, does the job despite her fear of public nudity, while Zula, 30, wonders what she will do when she's too old to dance. It is intriguing stuff so it's a pity the translation from French to English is so clunky. The interviews are dubbed with awkward English phrases, often voiced by women who sound far older than the dancers. It is disconcerting enough to distract you from the storyline €” not to mention the gyrating hips and high kicks.Love SoupABC2, 9.15pmTHE first series of Love Soup gained a following with its quirky parallel storylines about Alice (Tamsin Greig) and Gil (Michael Landes). They were perfect for each other but, maddeningly, never met. Sadly, by the time series two was commissioned, Landes had moved on to other projects. Without him it is a very dull affair. The show has all the hallmarks of an ordinary sitcom €” eccentric heroine, kooky co-workers and a domineering boss. Trouble is, it's not very funny. Alice's gloom and loneliness infect every scene and the jokes fall flat. Tonight, Alice's colleagues, Cleo and Milly, are trying to set her up with a sales rep, while managing their own romantic entanglements.White CollarChannel Ten, 9.30pmFOR some reason, I always expect White Collar's con-man hero, Neal Caffrey (Matthew Bomer), to introduce himself as "Bond, James Bond." Working with the FBI to catch other white-collar criminals, he has a slick, devil-may-care kind of charm. Tonight's episode is even more 007 than most, with Caffrey chasing a long-time rival, Matthew Keller, who owes money to a Russian baddie. To raise the dough, Keller has forged an absurdly valuable bottle of wine and plans to sell it through a high-profile auction house. For reasons that only make sense in the context of Bond-esque drama, Caffrey creates his own forgery, using an antique bottle and some ancient wax. It's a little bit silly but with such sharp dialogue and strong performances, it makes gripping and entertaining television.
© 2010 The Age