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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice texture, January 30, 2009
P. D. James's stories are all nicely textured, with carefully-layered plotting and interesting characters. In this story we have a crime novelist who is found dead, his hands severed from his body. The suspects have alibis; one (a slightly effete and decidedly obnoxious critic) is played by the superb Bill Nighy. There are two subplots, one involving a sleazoid gangster, the second involving Dalgleish and his relationship with his girl friend. As those subplots intersect, the girl friend is threatened. The climax is particularly memorable, with a storm at sea and Dalgleish trapped with a suspect in a seaside cottage through which the winds are howling and in which the water is rising. This is definitely worth a look, if only for the Nighy character.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Theme Music and an OK Story, July 20, 2011
My wife is more of a P.D. James fan than I am and has read the book; since I haven't I'll simply address my impressions of the DVD. First I'll mention that my wife also gave it three stars although the rating here is strictly my doing.
Importantly it was good enough that we wanted to finish it instead of stopping it at some point before the ending; that's saying something in its favor. As a music lover I'll admit the theme music is hauntingly beautiful and often finds its way into my thoughts; this sort of gets things off to a good start. The story as presented was not hard to follow and had some very dramatic and provocative scenes. I'll not repeat the story here but will simply say it made sufficient sense for me to avoid frustration with the progress of the story.
I always find English scenery interesting and the images presented as representing Suffolk held my attention. It seems like a rugged and unforgiving coastline along there as I'm much better acquainted with the softness, usually, of the Gulf Coast (hurricanes are an exception of course).
My wife and I agree that the situation involving the Commander and Deborah was somewhat abrupt there near the ending and didn't seem to have a sufficient buildup to justify what happened. We also share the opinion the ending seemed much too contrived and was the biggest disappointment of all.
By and large we shall probably not seek this one out to watch again although the first time around it was worth three stars.
I suggest you view it before you buy it.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of James' Most Suspenseful, September 3, 2008
This is one of James' most suspenseful DVDs-just below A Certain Justice and
Original Sin. The ending is particularly so.Once again,Marsden plays Dalgliesh to
a "T",moving the case along at a good pace throughout.It is too bad that he is
unable to commit more time to his long time girl friend though. The color is excellent,
though I miss (as usual) Closed Captioning (even a list of characters with a summary
of their roles would have been useful as an extra. However,one does have the book &
can review the DVD (which can be a plus).The color is good,and the acting excellent.
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