The perfect young bank manager with a perfect wife in a perfect little house in the perfect outer suburbs and with a perfect little son, lives his perfect little life. Unfortunately he loses his perfect little dog, and from then on Mark's life becomes very unperfect.
The premise is interesting enough; the telling of it was not. Nippy close-up camera work and fast in-and-out editing did nothing to cover up what really comes out as a very run-of-the-mill TV production without very much in its favour. The principal actors were not up to much and the directing even less, being oh-so-woolly: there was no clear definition of characterization and this leaves one somewhat bemused and in the end uncaring. I think the main culprit lies with the director: one had the predominant feeling that here was a novice director trying to do clever experimental things, but without enough experience to carry it off successfully, such that at frequent intervals the whole lot falls flat on its face.
As for the story-line: it all turns out so predictable as you get through its near three-hour run time (usually in two episodes) that you are not surprised; Eagles/Horowitz did not leave enough room for surprising twists as the plot unfolds; each new development seemed to be too tailored to logical sequencing in a straight line. I hope they can do better next time.
A little under four out of ten.
The premise is interesting enough; the telling of it was not. Nippy close-up camera work and fast in-and-out editing did nothing to cover up what really comes out as a very run-of-the-mill TV production without very much in its favour. The principal actors were not up to much and the directing even less, being oh-so-woolly: there was no clear definition of characterization and this leaves one somewhat bemused and in the end uncaring. I think the main culprit lies with the director: one had the predominant feeling that here was a novice director trying to do clever experimental things, but without enough experience to carry it off successfully, such that at frequent intervals the whole lot falls flat on its face.
As for the story-line: it all turns out so predictable as you get through its near three-hour run time (usually in two episodes) that you are not surprised; Eagles/Horowitz did not leave enough room for surprising twists as the plot unfolds; each new development seemed to be too tailored to logical sequencing in a straight line. I hope they can do better next time.
A little under four out of ten.