Reviews

I almost bailed after the opening scene - I thought I was watching an updated version of 60s show M. A. S. H ! It was chaotic and unprofessional in an OR. Then I couldn't be sure who THE Resident was meant to be - Dr Padesh or Dr Hawkins.

In the main it was a brilliant binge watch of 6 seasons, but as others have said, it lost its way around Season 4 onwards, with the Indian sisters and their storyline being particularly annoying. All the characters had issues with either sisters or fathers, and nearly all ended up as a patient themselves in ER - sadly we didn't see anymore of the Irving/Jessica backstory after a short scene of their wedding.

Nic was flaky, flip flopping her emotions about Conrad - and that was irritating. Would Conrad in real life get away with wearing so much "man jewellery " in a health environment ? Equally when the Indian sister was proposed to, her false nails were so long they were not appropriate for a doctor.

Who decided that the actor playing Trevor Daniels - Billie Suttons son, was a good choice ? He is clearly African American, while Billie Sutton looks more latino and his father was white !

Dr Bell had a personality transplant midway through the series, and Dr Billie Sutton was very creepy in the way she kept moongazing at Conrad and Nics body hadn't even got cold ! Mina was brilliant and should have been encouraged to stay. Dr Cain - the actor was so good in the role, he made everone want to punch him !

Nevertheless it was good, and all credit to the actors in getting their tongues around all the medical terminology. And the scriptwriters had a great fallback with the amount of times in an episode we heard ..... "I've / we've / you've got this " Loved loved loved seeing Andrew McCarthy in an acting role again - and he has still "got" it.

It was a joy to see Conrad (Matt Zcercky) interact so beautifully with Gigi his on screen daughter, a terrific little actress herself. He clearly adored her.

I've decided that the greatest bugbear in any hospital are the friends and families. Hanging around the bed demanding "do something / is she/he going to be alright / " and get in the way of the clinicians - just kick them out !!!

I am normally a huge fan of Walter Presents and generally love the Scandi dramas (despite the cluck cluck sounds of the various languages), but this must be one of the worst I have had the misfortune to watch.

I had great expectations with episode 1 - the time lines were odd - flashbacking to the 70s from the 90s. I lived in hopes though that there would be a 2020 updates. Sadly not.

In the end I only managed to stomach 3 episodes as it was like watching paint dry. Then I went straight to episode 6 to see the ending. To be honest it could have been episode 1 then straight to 6 as not much was lost or missed.

I won't reveal the ending but it certainly wasn't worth the 6 preceding hours to get there.

AWFUL.

Well, I hope the SA Tourist Board didn't watch this, because it certainly hasn't done Cape Town any favours for potential visitors. Yes it was all about the underbelly of the place, and nowhere in the world is immune from slum areas and gangsters , but it certainly didn't inspire me to visit.

Natalie Dormer played herself so nothing new there.

As to the relationship between the brother and sister - I would certainly be concerned if my brother started cuddling up to me on the bed like a lover! Then there is the neighbours overweight son. He looks more like a 30 year old than 17. Equally Daniel looks more like a chap in his mid 20s than a mid teen.

Then there is the incompetent police force. Are the lower ranks in SA so completely stupid ? Have they no gumption, and I'd certainly question the police training methods if they churn out idiots as portrayed in this series. If this really is typical of police forces then SA is really in trouble.

I just didn't rate the MI6 operative Bianca - Lashana Lynch. I found her uncomfortable to watch as her lack of acting skills showed up against such heavyweights as Charles Dance and Eddie Redmayne - who was superb in the leading role. How this lady was cast for the role is up for conjecture - (diversity ? ), like another reviewer I won't be watching her again in any other role. There was also too much family backstory for the viewer to care.

I too have binge watched the series and was on the edge of my seat for mist part, although there was a lot of background music for my liking. The MI6 chief - Isabel had about as much gravitas as a wet lettuce and gave into Bianca's requests in every office scene (like, er really ? This would happen ?? )

Nevertheless this was a good thriller - Redmayne perfectly cast - and looking forward to season 2 (3 and 4 maybe ?? )

I too watched on Channel 5 and was reading these reviews while doing so, so I fast forward (recorded) and yes, it ended after 1hr 40 mins with a phone call from the ex - unless there was a deeper meaning but where was the Collie ?

Aside from that (and thank you to the reviewer for preventing me from wasting time viewing it to the "end" ), the film appeared to have everything thrown at it - from diversity to woke to climate change to LGBGT, - so perhaps the rest of the film I missed, dealt with animal welfare and vegetarianism!

It was a bit plodding and some of the acting was very wooden so maybe I did myself a favour by fast forwarding.

I've watched some really awful Christmas films in my time, and this is up there with them. It really is bad. The first fifteen minutes started off OK but then slid into oblivion with me fast forwarding (I recorded it) most of it.

The plot line concept was a good one - but it was cast so badly. LItalia Ricci is good, as is Luke McFarlane, but knowing that Luke is a gay man, makes any romantic scene with a woman a bit unreal. Yes, we see heterosexual actors play gay men on film, but us ladies are "wired" to see our characters play for real.

Aside from that it may be perfect for children's tv but not one I wish to sit through again.

AT LAST the genius casting of Hallmarks best actors Paul, Tyler and Andrew in one film together, who can all carry whatever film they're in because they're such great actors. Its unique as the lead is not female as all Hallmark films are normally.

The script was not the usual stuff that sounds as though a 12 year old wrote it, but in parts it was real laugh out loud humour - and because I recorded it (to cut out the ads) its one to enjoy all through the year. This should be on everyone's watch list every Christmas.

I'm in the UK and apart from The Holiday and Love Actually our Christmas movie fix is reliant on American and Canadian offerings.

This was clearly made 2 years ago, and hopefully and would imagine, that (gorgeous) Tyler Hynes hair has now grown from the not flattering hair cut he sported in the film - it makes all guys look like Eastern European thugs !!

Betrayal, lies, loyalty, trust, tears - the whole 9 yards. I watched this on YouTube- not recommended. Drunken picture angles, lots of piano music muting out the dialogue.

I love Tyler Hynes - great actor, but how old were the scriptwriters ? 15 ? The story concept was good but seeing a grown woman in tears because she was "betrayed" over a photograph ? Oh please. He told lies - no he didn't, he just didn't tell her the story. But so what ? The aunt telling him - a grown man, off, was beyond laughable. It wasn't a big deal except in Hallmark World.

Hynes has some terrific films under his belt ( and he just looks better the older he gets) but because of the poor script, this isn't one of them. How the actors managed to keep a straight face is remarkable.

..for the annoying Brad, like all the posters on here said. He was way too over the top idiotic hence losing 2 stars for the full 10.

Compared to past years, a lot of recent Hallmark films ( Christmas and otherwise) have been well below par with mainly rubbish acting, poor plotlines and scripts. So this was refreshingly good by comparison. Watching the two leads who could actually ACT was a joy, and what a bonus that they could sing too !! They have great chemistry and Hallmark would be missing a trick if they didn't use these two again, but realistically they are likely to gain greater fame by sticking to musical theatre where their talents would be used more.

A UK viewer here, so all the excitement and frantic passion about an American football team was lost on someone this side of the pond.

I watched purely because I love seeing Tyler Hynes in action. His previous work has always had cheeky humour with a twinkly eye - what girl wouldn't love that !

This film widely missed the mark. His on screen time was completely overwhelmed by the over acting of the most absurd family, and coupled with a ridiculous storyline you get to the point where you'd rather walk over hot coals than sit through to the end.

His co-star Hunter King never really cut the nustard as a romantic lead. Hynes had far better rapport with other actresses that was more believable in his previous films. It showed that there was no chemistry between these two.

Hopefully Hynes will get more films in the same vein as It Was Always You - because this movie did him no favours at all.

You could almost hear the Director call "action" in the opening scene as each character appeared from behind a door or wall. The first three all looked the same age considering it was granny, daughter and granddaughter, then great granny breezed in and could barely move her mouth - clearly the local plastic surgeon was on speed dial considering how much Botox and fillers were used in the two older gals.

The story idea was a good concept but in the hands of other actors it would be so much better.

So much amateurish acting you wonder how they got through casting. Cheryl Ladd has some reasonable films under her belt, but even she couldn't save this - that's when she could get her face to move that is.

Hallmark don't produce the films like in the past. I get a third of the way through their recent offerings and boredom sets in. Where are the likes of Andrew J Walker and all the other old stalwarts ? At least they can act !

Most of the film was set in an apartment - a place that's been hired out, so production need to get their monies worth. So it was just a case of moving from room to room.

The same with the sparce cast of characters - the two leads dominated the dialogue and scenes. The acting by the female lead was wildly over the top - how do they get work ?

The story would have been good in the hands of others. Anyone discovering someone else in their home, who insisted on staying with such persistence would have been out on their ear - not told to "get on with it and stay out of my way" and then she starts singing loudly fully knowing he's a writer who needs quiet. Totally annoying.

If I see her listed in another film I won't be watching. This is bad.

Unlike most detective stories these erred on the dark side of humanity. There was everything from the sadistic sexual to the realms of fantasy, with a twist at the end. Once you got into the writers thought process it was easy to spot the murderer from the outset. Some were difficult to watch, personally I can't even look at a snake, so the episode with an abundance of the things, I spent more time looking away from the screen than I did watching it.

The two leads weren't particularly user friendly, in fact as cops they were a bit useless. Rendering an attacker disarmed, what do they do? Turn their back to make a phone call so of course its the inevitable attack from behind. In the earlier seasons the female always ended up in a hellish situation- brought on herself because she never waited for backup. The grumpy guy couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag so it was all a bit pathetic. Yes, its the scriptwriters that dictate the story, so they should make it more believable - which doesn't mean turning your back on an aggressor, ever.

Honestly? I've seen better acting in amateur drama groups. No-one shone in this film, the dialogue was spoken as though they were still reading the script - without emotion. Humorous parts were badly timed, and I can't believe the Casting Director wasn't fired for not finding more able actors.

Then the story should have been good but it was badly portrayed. How can a Gallery owner open a gallery without knowing what he's doing and relying on his mate for advice ? How can a mother walk into a room chatting away and not see the wedding bridesmaid sitting there ? Dad cooking at the stove, but was more like a model posing. So bad.

I recorded it, so after the excruciating first 20 minutes I whizzed through to the end.

I very much enjoyed series 1 and much of series 2, there was plenty of detective work and because of the length of each episode, there was a proper beginning; middle and end, with plenty of humour.

Series 3 began with a new side kick for Borowski and the episodes became painfully slow to watch. Like watching paint dry. Characters became deep and dark, and even the humour between Borowski and his boss in the earlier series had all but gone.

I had to look up where Kiel was, so it was interesting to get a photographic view of the area.

The principal actors gave good performances and overall was a good drama to watch, but I'm gad Series 3 only ran to 6 episodes - that was enough.

Where to start ? Not the first I've seen Jessica Loundes in, and yep her range of acting is still minimal. Not the first time I've seen Jess Metcalf, and yep his range of acting is still minimal.

The story is ludicrous as expected from Hallmark. Some are good but when they're bad they're terrible. The two leads are around 40 in ages, but are trying to be early 20s, and some scenes are positively amateurish in their acting . Clearly Metcalf is middle aged now so his acting needs to reflect that, and not that of a bashful school boy.

The script is a cheese fest of "follow your heart" type dialogue- like we speak like this in real life - not.

The story is one of blackmail - heal my brother and you get your dream job/placement, if not you dont.

This is not one of Hallmarks best.

Anyone else notice how the colour palette on this show is blue ? Aside from the neutrals and the odd red dress, there are more blue shirts, blue suits, blue blouses, blue upholstry, blue painted rooms than any other show ive seen ! Even a grieving mother in her home wore a blue cardigan with blue blouse. No greens, yellows, purples or pinks on this programme.

The show itself is a good binge, but i found all the opening sequences showing an incident abroad, were all a bit stagey - you could almost hear the Director shout 'action'.

Given the power of her office, the family home seemed "meagre" - everone falling over themselves in the snall kitchen, and certainly no room for diplomatic dinners !

The kids were a nightmare. The eldest daughter didnt stick to anything, the son was precocious, and in the middle of Season 4 the middle child "noodle" suddenly had plumped up lips !! With her dark eyes she looked to be of a different culture to her siblings ! - was she adopted ? It was also evident that Tea Leoni and Tim Daly were a couple, given they couldn't keep their hands off each other on screen.

The best actor for me anyway, was Blake ! His injected humour into his assistant role was a joy to watch. The two who i thought were mis-cast was Mat and Daisy. West Wing they certainly were not, acting like schoolkids all the time, I was too distracted by Daisys eyes (thyroid problem ?) to focus on her dialogue but she over-acted anyway. Mat didnt 'gel' as a speech writer, and was just irritating. As for Nadine, im not surprised she legged it after 3 seasons, with her dreadful wardrobe she was given to wear. Who thought sticking her in brown, black and maroon against her pale white skin was a good idea. Then on a trip to Libya - an Islamic country, there she was in a sleeveless frock with a slit to the thigh visiting a patient in hospital !

I shall continue to the end though.

On someones recommendation (and after enjoying The Good Wife and The West Wing), I wanted to enjoy another 7 seasoner. Oh dear, I realised 15 minutes into episode 1 that I wasn't going to see the end of the lengthy run.

From the outset, the dialogue was too fast (good job I had subtitles on), the camera shots were too fast paced, and the incessant background music was over whelming.

I don't mind watching with no recognisable names, although I had seen Tony Goldwyn and Josh Melina in other productions, and they were good, but I thought the character of Quinn was ludicrously stupid, and i wouldn't have employed her to make the tea, and the actress playing her was pretty rubbish at acting too.

I didn't connect with this drama, as the storylines were far fetched and ridiculous, so I checked online as to the rest of the Seasons, and so couldn't invest the time. Season one was enough for me.

Years ago when this first aired, I couldnt be bothered to commit to a weekly show that would go on for years. But I've recently binged Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The (brilliant)West Wing and now this.

WOW! A lot of the intermittant cast of West Wing pitch up in this. I thought Hollywood had a far larger stable of actors to choose from.

Personally despite being watchable, it doesnt have the quick-fire humour of TWW, and is all the poorer for it. But Alan Cumming does his best.

However there are some good storyline and good acting. Diane and Eli hold it all together. I'm wondering if the actress playing Alevia has succumbed to Botox, as her emotion range is zero - her face barely moves. Kalinda also is too permanently severe - would a slip of a young woman really have an outward tough job I don't think so. No problem with Will, and his exit will be missed.

As usual (and sadly) we have to endure some extremely unlikeable kids. The two teenagers create havoc, have no manners, and are as thick as planks, yet all the parents say (Peter and Alicia) is "its OK its not your fault". They needed bawling out and disciplined. Yet tv and film parents are always portrayed giving a softly softly approach - wrong ! These two would give reason to abstain from having children.

In all I would say that if this is a true depiction of the justice system in the US, particularly the truly dreadful "Bond "Court", and the equally idiot attitude of the Judges, then I wholly sympathise with anyone falling foul of the judicial system and money grabbing lawyers in the US.

I didn't watch this 25 years ago when it first aired, so I've pretty much binged watch this now.

I congratulate Aaron Sorkin for creating and writing a TV series unlike any other. However, maybe a great number of Americans understood much of the dialogue, and all the initials uttered as a short form for companies and government departments, but I expect us here in the UK haven't a clue what the characters are talking about !! I watched with sub titles, and still found it another language.

I enjoy the fast pace action, but it borders on the manic at times. In fact most of the dialogue is spoken while the characters are walking, and walking down endless corridors. I would love an aerial view of the "set", as I can't imagine (certainly not in my career life), of serious conversations happening on the go ! That's all they do in every episode is lots of walking with a few minutes in their office. I just imagine the director shouts "action" then suddenly 2 dozen extras start walking frantically in and around the main characters in and out of rooms so it does become samey every episode.. "Clearly not a lot was spent on sets, and wasn't the Oval Office and Bartletts bedroom used in the film The Americam president ?

Nevertheless it's compulsive viewing, and a treat to see Rob Lowe and the others looking so gloriously young. !

The cast of characters were unattractive - in more ways than one. Two detectives who were so inept they would have trouble finding their own front door, and the whole story could have been done and dusted in less than 4 episodes. A really convoluted plot line, and we were treated to naked women running along a frozen seashore, later followed by two naked old men doing a bit of Sumo wrestling on the front seats of a car !

There was very little dialogue to learn, as there was much looking into the distance, lots of lingering pauses and all very depressing. If people actually live in that environment - where they venture into the forests alone, or sit gazing out to sea, with only one bar and one cafe, then little wonder suicide is rife in Scandinavia.

I do wonder with Scandi dramas why the colour pallette for dress is so restricted to neutrals and all shades of blue ! Never see a yellow sweater or a red dress, or purple or even pink blouse. Are these colours outlawed or are the Scandinavians really thst boring ?

Who thought that one long affair could be stretched out over 3 series ? I wanted to stop watching after half way through season 1 but like a car crash, you can't stop looking.

I was confused as to whether it was a Muslim or Christian series, but it was unimportant as it turned out.

I didn't warm to the actress playing Esvet. She had one expression which only changed with a few tears. A hint of a smile only happened in the last episode. The script also had her turning up when she shouldn't have - all the time, which was irritating to the story. Pueramy was a good character but throughout, there was lots of "filler" long pauses of "looks' with piano background playing., so I did a lot of fast forwarding.

The actor playing Mustafa was beyond excellent, but he underwent a seismic change in a short time. One minute needing to be spoon fed to wearing a tuxedo and having grow up conversations !

My favourite was Dimitri, the actor had the best part playing a manic with a range of emotions BUT he had the most wonderful wardrobe of spectacles and shaded sunglasses ! By the end I missed his perfect teeth and had serious glasses envy !

Where do these movie companies get their actors from ? Because if those in this film are the best of those auditioned, then the movie industry is in dire straits. The "acting" was forced, and who meets their best friend in a coffee shop with squeals to tell them they need to see each other more ? The over-acting of the friend was cringe worthy, and she needs to have more acting lessons.

Then there is the precocious child who knows and demands everything. Once she came into the picture, we were in children's TV territory when a birthday party was mentioned and organised. At this point I'd had enough and switched off.