INJUSTICE
R**Z
Riveting and Ominous: Horowitz at the Top of his Game
This is Anthony Horowitz at the top of his game: a character-driven confection of mystery, psychological suspense and a dollop of appropriate violence. There are three central characters and an additional character in a related subplot. James Purefoy plays a London barrister specializing in murder cases. He and his wife have fled the madding crowd and settled in Suffolk. The wife is a former A-list book editor who now volunteers at a prison for youthful offenders, where she introduces the teenaged, troubled males to real literature. One of her students has written 10,000 words of a novel that shows significant promise. He has also committed a crime which ultimately bears on the main plotlines.The principal plot concerns Purefoy's being asked to, as it were, come out of rural retirement and defend an old school friend from Cambridge who is accused of murdering a company secretary with whom he was having an affair. The company may have been more the object of her attentions than the man and the company may have actually caused her death. That is the central mystery. However, there are many other mysteries. Purefoy's wife was once the girlfriend of the old school friend and the friend's first wife divorced him under conditions which she refuses to reveal. Finally, Purefoy experienced a meltdown over a previous case—the one that drove him to leave London. The man he defended in that case has since been murdered and several flashbacks reveal Purefoy as the murderer. The flashbacks, however, may actually be nightmares or they may be instances of magic realism or fantasy, since an unidentified young man appears at the murder scene. In other words, there are more mysteries than we can shake a stick at. The latter one is being investigated by a sleazy Detective Inspector who is willing to frame suspects in order to win cases. Perhaps he will frame Purefoy.The plotting is very sweet, as Horowitz slowly but surely reveals what is actually going on, but the real awards should go to the casting director for picking three superb central characters: Purefoy, Nathaniel Parker (the old schoolmate accused of murder) and Charlie Creed-Miles (the Detective Inspector). All three actors can play upstanding citizens as well as very nasty villains. So what are they, here?My description may have made this 45 minute/5 episode story sound a bit confusing and convoluted. It is not. It is absolutely lucid as it proceeds, but there are crucial tidbits of information that are gradually revealed. This is slow-moving, high tension adult drama with a score that adds materially to that tension. The word 'ominous' comes to mind, in nearly every second of the story.Bottom line: don't miss it.
M**N
Interesting, to a point
Let me begin by saying that I believe James Purefoy is a great actor. Anything that I see him in I automatically feel the need to watch , now that doesn't necessarily mean that everything he's in is up to his standard as an actor ( that retched series The Following, what a disappointment). But this series was actually good, not great, but it was entertaining.Purefoy plays a lawyer who lives away from big city life after he defended a man of murder that he later finds out is guilty. You see that his character isn't all there, he seems to be seeing things and you come to the realization quite quickly that he has or had some sort of meltdown. He is called upon by a friend to defend him in a murder case, and he reluctantly accepts.His wife is a writer that gives literature classes in a juvenile facility, there she meets a boy with great potential as a writer, and she decides on helping him in his search for a career as an author.There is also a police officer investigating another murder that has a connection with the case that brought Purefoy's character to his breakdown.The series consists of five episodes, each more interesting than the last. You have murder, intrigue, and a mystery. Now why don't I give it 5 stars, you might ask?Well for starters it's all pretty predictable, not all of it but most of it. The coincedances with the wife, police investigation and the juvenile facility are a bit too much for my tastes.But the biggest problem I had with the series was the investigating police officer ( who's a dead ringer for one of the guys in The Pet Shop Boys ) , he is just the least likable character in this. And I know you don't have to like every character in a movie, but it's frustrating when you take away from the action to show us his storyline. He is such a creep that if it has nothing to do with the plot, then I don't care to watch it. Because believe me at the end of the day, it has very little impact on the story, and going through the torture of watching this ass to have it come to nothing is just inconsiderate on the part of the filmmakers.And another thing that bugged me was the incessant use of the scene in the first episode where someone is shot in the head, this scene is shown in every episode after that. In. Every. Episode. At least twice. We get it already. We're not idiots.So if you want to be entertained watch it, it's not rocket science, and you will probably know how it will end, but I still believe it's worth watching for Purefoy alone. Now The Following, that's another story.
P**B
All Is Not What It Seems
I have to admit I almost stopped watching the series about half way into the watch. It was dragging and the storyline seemed boring, But I gave it another try, and by the end of episode one, I was a believer.James Purefoy plays William Travers he is a good looking defense lawyer, lives in Suffolk and has a lovely family. Though on closer inspection, all does not seem right. It seems he has had a recent breakdown. A recurrent nightmare leads to the death of a man, though it takes two episodes to get us there. William's wife is teaching literature at the local boys reformatory, and has a special student that she may mentor.Then there's DI Mark Wenborn, played by Charlie Creed-Miles who had a colleague who was crooked, and, now Charlie's a mean man, not liked by anyone. He has his eyes on Travers and that can't lead to anything good.One of Willam's old school friends has been arrested for murder, and he has requested William as his barrister. This means William will need to return to London, the scene of his breakdown. Most of the story is told in flashbacks, and it is interesting, indeed, to look at the evidence and clues as they accumulate. This has turned into a well planned and laid out series. They may want to look at the first half of episode one and beef it up, it almost lost me.Recommended. prisrob 03-11-13
M**N
Excellent
Brilliantly acted and a twist on the usual detective/murder plot. Anthony Horowitz at his very best. Highly recommended.
S**1
Great series
Great series, very gripping thriller and a bit different.
G**L
Compelling viewing.
I found this series by chance and can recommend it to anyone looking for intelligent thriller.
M**E
Very good
It's a great show dvd great
M**P
Injustice
I first saw this series more than a year ago and loved it (fell in love with James Purefoy) I also watched when it was repeated earlier this year so decided to buy the DVD so I can see it again and again. Shall be buying The Following when it becomes available.
Trustpilot
1 week ago
5 days ago