Customer Reviews

Prime Suspect 7 - The Final Act

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Masterpiece Theater" has long been a benchmark in bringing quality British TV to American viewers. With a prestigious history, some legendary programs--including "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "I, Claudius"--have found acclaim, awards, and international audiences. Of late, "Masterpiece Theater" has been showcasing some ambitious literary adaptations with mixed results. Last season's high point, and a must for any lover of film, was the flawless adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House." A triumph in every regard, and featuring Emmy nominated turns by Charles Dance and Gillian Anderson, this program should be essential viewing for those that value literate, classy and wildly entertaining TV. This season's offerings have included "To The Ends Of The Earth" (an adaptation of William Golding's seafaring trilogy--'Rites Of Passage,' 'Close Quarters' and 'Fire Down Below'), a robust new version of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre," a reimagining of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," and the swan song of Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison in "Prime Suspect 7-The Final Act."

Unlike most entries in the "Masterpiece Theater" library this year, "Prime Suspect 7" is not a literary adaptation of a classic work. Instead, it is the final installment of the wonderful "Prime Suspect" series which began 15 years ago. In 1992, audiences were introduced to Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison who was the only woman in a London homicide squad. Passed over for promotion due to her gender, her big break came when another DCI suffered a heart attack. Stepping up as the leader of the squad, she encountered disdain and ridicule from the men of the unit--but through the years has garnered a grudging respect due to her investigative skills. Now, in "Prime Suspect 7-The Final Act," Tennison faces her final case and her impending retirement after a cumulative 30 years working for the police.

When a high school girl goes missing, police are quick to question possible suspects--from her parents, to a coach she may have been involved with, to a secret boyfriend. Learning more about the girl, it seems as if she was not the innocent most people believed her to be. Tennison befriends another young girl, a potential witness in the case who happens to be the victim's best friend. As Tennison faces retirement, she is still battling many demons--an estrangement from her family, a father in the hospital, and her alcoholism. Her friendship with the girl is a way for her to grasp the remaining part of her humanity, and to get some kind of understanding for the hard choices that she has made to further her career. Not to be dismissive of the actual police procedural--but in all honesty, it's not that hard to figure out. But you know what? Doesn't matter in the slightest.

This program, more than any other in the "Prime Suspect" series, is a love letter to Helen Mirren. Tennison is easily one of TV's most difficult female characters--she is a mass of flaws and an absolute mess in most regards. Mirren has evolved with this character, so it's fitting that the final installment features Tennison at her most vulnerable. In a year where Mirren has won every award conceivable for both "Elizabeth I" on TV and "The Queen" at the movies--this, to me, (although not a royal) is her crowning achievement! It's a fitting tribute to a complex character and an opportunity for Mirren to grace us with another tour de force performance (she has previously won Emmy accolades for prior "Prime Suspect" installments). Recommended highly (but 4 stars due to the rather routine resolution of the film's central mystery), I will miss not having Jane Tennison to look forward to any more. A great series, a great good-bye. Buy them all right now! KGHarris, 02/07.

"Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" finds Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) a 35-year veteran of the police force, weeks away from retirement, and struggling to keep her head above water as she solves her last case. The hysterical parents of 14-year-old Sallie Sturdy keep the pressure on to find their daughter's killer, as Tennison's alcoholism threatens to consume her personal and professional being. Tennison finds both an outlet for maternal instincts and a reminder of her own youth in Sallie's friend Penny Phillips (Laura Greenwood), who may know more than she is telling abut the crime. Penny's father and school headmaster (Stephen Tompkinson) and the girls' thuggish friend Curtis Flynn (Heshima Thompson) both have suspect connections to Sallie and suspect alibis. With no one, including Tennison, in full possession of his or her senses, this case careens toward its conclusion.

Without Helen Mirren's reticence and force of personality, this final episode of "Prime Suspect" would be pure melodrama. Many of the characters are so overwrought that I would expect to find them heavily medicated or institutionalized. "Prime Suspect" always included melodrama, but these performances are so hysterical that they undermine the show's gritty realism. I fault director Philip Martin for that. Helen Mirren's sharpness and deliberation prevent Jane Tennison from becoming a similar caricature. She grabs the audience's sympathies, even as Tennison's behavior is sometimes alienating. As a window on the weight that decades of grim work have placed on Jane Tennison's shoulders, "The Final Act" succeeds admirably. In other respects, this episode is flawed. And I couldn't help wondering if the writers' intention was to advocate the omnipresence of CCTV cameras in the UK by making the video footage out to be essential to crime-solving.

The DVDs (Acorn Media 2007): This is a 2-disc set with the first half of the film on Disc 1 and the conclusion on Disc 2 -an absurd waste of space in my view. Unlike some previous "Prime Suspect" DVDs, the film is in its proper 1.66:1 format, not full screen. Bonus features are on Disc 2, where you will find a "Photo Gallery" slide show of on-set photos and production stills, "Cast Filmographies" of 7 cast members, and a "Prime Suspect: Behind the Scenes" documentary (45 min). The documentary interviews producers and cast members from various "Prime Suspect" series, looks at the series' 15-year history, its inception, its themes, and inspirations. Also interviewed is Jackie Malton, the DCI who advised the first episode and on whom some of Jane Tennison's experiences were based.

The best Prime Suspect was definitely saved for last. In Prime Suspect 6, Jane Tennison rose to an entirely new level as she fought insubordination and calls to retire, while solving a complex international murder. In Prime Suspect 7, Jane Tennison faces new challenges, but most of these challenges come from within, as she struggles with alcoholism and the death of her father, all while trying to solve her most challenging case yet. The drama and suspense of Prime Suspect 7 is as great as we have seen in the past, but what makes this Prime Suspect the best yet is the extraordinary depth of Jane Tennison. Helen Mirren delivers yet another brilliant and masterful performance in the role that has defined her career.

The Prime Suspects have all been superb, but the last may well be the best, principally because of Helen Mirren's acting and the quality of the script. As much a drama as a crime drama, "The Final Act" focuses on the private life of the protagonist. Jane's father is on his death bed and she is in her cups. Moreover, there is the overarching fear that she might take a bullet to the gut before her DCI work is concluded. The tone is somber, the supporting cast very able, the lighting and tone pitch perfect.

The production values are excellent and the direction exquisite. This is television at its finest as well as its grittiest and most moving. An absolute don't miss.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT END TO A WONDERFUL DETECTIVE SERIES. TO SEE MISS HELEN MIRREN AT WORK IS THE MOST GRATIFYING PART OF WATCHING THIS DVD.
MISS MIRREN FINISHES THIS SERIES OF DECTECTIVE DRAMAS ON A HIGH NOTE, AS WE GET TO SEE HER CHARACTER SOLVE HER FINAL CASE, AND RETIRE ON A HIGH POINT.
EVEN WITH ALL HER PROBLEMS, THRU THE YEARS, IT WAS ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE HER PUT THE PIECES OF A CASE TOGETHER, AND FIANLLY SOLVE IT. NOW THAT THIS IS THE FINAL ACT, SHE AND HER CHARACTER WILL BE MISSED. THANK GOD FOR THE DVD.

I've just seen this episode in french and it's fantastic.Helen Mirren is a gem.The suspense is gripping.I'm looking forward for the release on DVD.I have the other six episodes.It's a shame this is the last one.Bravo Dame Helen.

Sorry to see Helen leave the series behind her! Her acting abilities would have carried he far beyond #7, but all good things must come to an end. The series is worth watching over and over again, something I would not normally do. Wonderful acting and directing.

2007 Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries, and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act is as dynamic, brilliantly written, directed, paced, and acted as the rest of the series that started in 1991. The Final Act is filled with the unexpected plot turns and introduces interesting complex characters. Prime Suspect 7 was dedicated to the memory of Tom Bell (Otley) who returned as Sergeant Bill Otley and who died two weeks before the episode was screened. As in all Prime Suspects, Helen Mirren owns the screen as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison working on her last case before retirement. This time, Jane investigates the missing of a 14-year-old girl while struggling with her alcoholism and coping with her father's death from incurable cancer. She dedicated all her life, talent, energy, and heart to her work where she had proved to be the best but the price she paid is incredibly high. The Final Act introduces a young actress Laura Greenwood (born in 1991) as 14 years old Penny. The scenes she shares with Mirren are "nothing short of phenomenal," according to David Bianculli of the New York Daily News, and I hope that her following roles will be as impressive as her first work next to one of the greatest modern actresses.

Helen Mirren (IMHO)in the "Prime Suspect" series, puts Cagney and Lacey TO SHAME. Jane Tennyson is tough, fragile without preachy dialogue and human, without being a matyr. In other words, while watching this, the strains of "I am woman, here me roar" are nowhere to be found, unlike most cop shows with the main character is female. "Prime Suspect 7" is a wonderful and honorable tribute to this flawed, intelligent and tragic policewoman.

How does one describe a masterpiece? When I bought "The Final Act", I knew that it would have to be superb, keeping with the tradition of "Prime Suspect" but I never imagined that it would be brilliant! At times, it was difficult to accept Helen Mirren as an alcoholic but she shone. As usual, the plot was so twisted... and it kept me on edge throughout. I have realized that series like these make one realize the artificiality and childishness of CSI and Bones.