Amanda Redman stars as a lonely divorcee who gets too involved in this predictable and rather dull thriller.
I must preface by saying I've never read a Ruth Rendell novel, although I've seen several of these adaptations. And none of them have ever clicked with me.
The Wexford stories are always overlong. A few of the others had no engaging leads. And this falls into both categories.
Redman is a great actress, but here she's just miserable, sad, and useless all the time. She's too quick to get involved with the widower, acting like a woman so in need of a man in her life that she'd choose anyone that was close enough to grab.
She's a very weak lead, and as the child of a single mum, I also found her to be an insulting one. Her desperation puts her and her son in the thick of danger throughout, suggesting that a woman's only purpose is to seek out a man.
Every other character is rather nasty, especially the male detective - a stereotypically sexist, fat, greasy sod who insults every woman he works with and every woman he has ever met.
The female detective shows some promise, yet she's not in enough of the story to do much. She should have been the main character, since she seems to be the only one in the whole story with any brains whatsoever.
And the kid who plays Amanda's son is rather good. He accurately purveys some of the same emotions that I went through as a child - especially when his father cancels on their time together at the last minute.
As for the plot. Well. If you can't guess who the baddie is as soon as they appear, then you haven't watched enough of these types of things. The only reason to keep watching after that is... I don't actually know, cause I found no reason to pay attention.
Only watch if you need something to make noise in the background while you do something else.
I must preface by saying I've never read a Ruth Rendell novel, although I've seen several of these adaptations. And none of them have ever clicked with me.
The Wexford stories are always overlong. A few of the others had no engaging leads. And this falls into both categories.
Redman is a great actress, but here she's just miserable, sad, and useless all the time. She's too quick to get involved with the widower, acting like a woman so in need of a man in her life that she'd choose anyone that was close enough to grab.
She's a very weak lead, and as the child of a single mum, I also found her to be an insulting one. Her desperation puts her and her son in the thick of danger throughout, suggesting that a woman's only purpose is to seek out a man.
Every other character is rather nasty, especially the male detective - a stereotypically sexist, fat, greasy sod who insults every woman he works with and every woman he has ever met.
The female detective shows some promise, yet she's not in enough of the story to do much. She should have been the main character, since she seems to be the only one in the whole story with any brains whatsoever.
And the kid who plays Amanda's son is rather good. He accurately purveys some of the same emotions that I went through as a child - especially when his father cancels on their time together at the last minute.
As for the plot. Well. If you can't guess who the baddie is as soon as they appear, then you haven't watched enough of these types of things. The only reason to keep watching after that is... I don't actually know, cause I found no reason to pay attention.
Only watch if you need something to make noise in the background while you do something else.