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Reviews
The Bruce (1996)
Not exactly a waste of time... but not exactly time well spent, either.
First off, the actors did what they could, and Brian Blessed steals the scene as well as the decidedly lackluster script allows him to. It is kind of sad that these people were not allowed to do more with their acting potential, but even greatness can carry these dialogues only so far.
As someone who majored in medieval Scottish history, I would say the perspective adopted by the movie is a perspective a sensationally biased contemporary could have taken, with the result not being unlike what the 19th century made out of already biased sources. So it is not - unlike "Braveheart", which to me is really bottom of the barrel - entirely out of character as to how sources of the time could whitewash events, and the result is certainly consistent with literary tradition. There are no projections of mentalities too unlike the period onto the events.
Do not expect it to be a documentary, however; next to nothing is right. Robert the Bruce did not speak Scots and kilts were not a thing until centuries later; Edward Ist did not die before his wife Eleanor of Castile, Bishop Wisharton did not die in battle, two de Bohuns were amalgamated into one person, John Comyn was not a traitor, John Balliol was somehow omitted entirely... Long list.
The movie does get certain props from me for not depicting Edward II as that much of a brash half-wit as other depictions are too comfortable in doing. But other than that - other commentators have already addressed the issue of making the English a little more evil and the Scots a little more saintly than strictly neccessary.
The armour is reasonably period-accurate, though the low-quality chain mail lookalike (which varyingly looks like steel wool, flattened tinsel, or shopping nets painted dull metal) is nothing short of annoying.
The female characters. Ugh. They only ever seem to screech in terror or dismay and always have this weird 1970s hairdo. I'm not sure what the director was thinking.
The soundtrack. That, I have to say, is mostly dismal. It is way too idyllic during battle scenes, almost enough to be involuntarily comical.
All in all - I don't know. I feel neither like recommending for or against watching the movie. Anybody looking for some decent hacky-slash-kill-death won't be too happy, as the choreography of the battle scenes hasn't aged too well by comparison. Anyone looking for a possible interpretation of historical events (without the invariable mentality anachronisms modern directors are so mind-numbingly fond of) probably should watch it. Everybody else - honestly, flip a coin or something.
The Practice: Police State (2004)
Too convincing for comfort
As far as I am aware, there are no such documented incidents regarding the Boston Police Departments (which has, civil rights-wise, a pretty good record). However, there are numerous incidents almost exactly like these with the Chicago Police Department, and, given the series is set in Boston, the BPD sort of drew the short straw. Hence, with all due deference to the fine work the BPD is demonstrably doing, this had to be shown.
In an effort to separate the debate from the issue of race, the series' writers switched the roles common in the public debate. Here, the murdered police officer is black, and the suspect is white. This cleverly boils down the episode's message to its essentials - who watches the watchers?
Because, let's face it, law enforcement accountability is an issue that needs to be discussed, and needs to continue being discussed until such stories stop cropping up in this absurd amount. For instance, former (thankfully) CPD Cmdr. Jon Burge was convicted in 2011 following accusations of having been the leading figure in the torture of no less than 200 subjects. Those are Gestapo numbers, certainly nothing you want in the Land of Freedom.
Some of the tortured were quite possibly real criminals. it doesn't matter. One of the principal tenets of criminal justice - and a point which is made throughout the series - is that even the most despicable individuals still have rights. That is how it was envisaged by the Founding Fathers, not the government-sanctioned lynchmob another reviewer here seems to be perfectly fine with (who also assumes the defendant's guilt, whereas the episode quite clearly hints at his complete innocence).
And the debate is going nowhere. People are firmly dug into their positions, mostly "all cops are " or "no cop can do any wrong", with the extremes being so vocal and unrelenting that no real debate ever commences; we see only echo chambers for left-wing anarchists and crypto-fascists with a little red, white, and blue sprinkled on top. But we need a debate, and we need it now. And if this episode can help further this cause, I say good. Because it exposes the flaws in the system, and does so mercilessly. That is what good TV does. Because this is fixable - but it also means acknowledging some hard facts.
The Mysteries of Laura (2014)
Significantly better than its reputation - a victim of atrocious timing.
OK, first off with the negative stuff: The format was planted into a completely saturated market, and, with all the competition, the series is nothing terribly new. Had the creators maybe waited until "Castle" or "Rizzoli & Isles" had aired their last season, this series would have filled a great gap - the witty cop show that makes you feel better for watching it. Now the two aforementioned series have run their course, and "The Mysteries of Laura" has undeservedly tanked after two seasons (with nothing to replace it, really). Fantastic.
As to the positive aspects - well, the characters are entertainingly written (and the actors do a great job bringing that to the screen), the cases themselves provide a decent amount of suspension, and it doesn't have a fundamentally depressing undertone to it (which makes for great serial classics like "Breaking Bad" or "Narcos", but sometimes that's simply not what you're looking for). If you like the type of cop shows that you can watch from the sofa while maybe eating a taco, just to have a good time - and don't want a format where every second episode involves chasing some super secret McGuffin that jeopardizes the security of the US and whatnot - this is for you.
All in all, the series pretty much got panned. The tenor was "geez, another cop show".
My experience with this show has led me to the conclusion that these reviews all sensationally miss the point. Yes, it is a cop show, but with that sort of protagonist, you better believe the dynamics of the show are going to be different.
Take Detective Kate Beckett from "Castle" or Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson from "The Closer". They are career-driven, tough women, who really have to struggle with the idea of being a parent (None of them become one in the course of their series). Captain Sharon Raydor from "Major Crimes" masters parenthood with one terrifying glare and a couple of choice (though never vulgar) words. Megan Hunt from "Body of Proof" never gives the impression she as much as ruffled her perfectly styled hair while being a single parent. Temperance Brennan from "Bones" is, indeed, changed somewhat by parenthood - but she remains this very different person, very original, but always a little "off" in terms of humanity.
Those characters have one thing in common - they are not very relatable. They are, in their own ways, role models, brilliantly played and well constructed as characters, but few people can really see themselves as one of them.
Laura Diamond, on the other hand, is a person we all know on some level - the career woman / single mom who both excels at her job and somehow manages to keep her bratty kids from burning the house down (no thanks to her ex-husband/superior officer, whose contribution to the parenting workload can best be described as "symbolic") - and whose dedication requires a level of practicality which shows. No, her clothes are not the immaculate suits of Captain Raydor, but mostly practical and decidedly worn and/or a bit grubby. No, her hair is not the straight perfection of Detective Beckett; rather, she is fortunate when it does not look like she grabbed the wrong end of a Taser. No, her demeanor is not the polite restraint of Dr. Hunt - Laura Diamond is the type who slurps cup-a-soup in the morgue.
And she does not have the father-who-apparently-committed-suicide-but-really-was-murdered, nor the parents-who-were-runaway-criminals-and-nearly-got-her-killed, or the mother-brutally-murdered-by-a-shadowy-untouchable (I won't say to which other characters these apply as not to give any plot points away). No mysterious backstory, no deep emotional scar which gives her the pain that fires her zeal, or anything like that. She is simply the epitome of a sassy real-life single mom, and that level of relatability is something that most critics have singularly failed to appreciate.
I, for one, am still very disappointed the series was axed after a mere two seasons, and even more so there aren't even rumors of a DVD release. All in all, this series never got the appreciation it deserved, and more's the pity. Still, the series has quite a loyal small fan base in the German-speaking area. So fingers crossed we'll maybe get a DVD release.