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Posts Tagged ‘charlotte riley’

Dark Heart (aka Wagstaffe) (2016)

Posted in Film Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Tom Riley plays DI Will Wagstaffe, the officer in charge of an investigation into a brutal murder and a number of brutal assaults in London. It doesn’t take long before Will and his team realise that suspected paedophiles are being targeted, and the race is on to find out who is exacting their own vigilante justice. Meanwhile Will himself is haunted by his own demons, as he struggles to cope with the murder of his own parents several years earlier.

This tv film was a one off, although it almost feels like the pilot for a series; if it was made into a series, I would certainly watch it. I thought Tom Riley was excellent in the main role – both believable as a police officer and also in his personal life as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he would soon have lived longer since his parents’ murder that he had lived before the horrific event that changed his life for good. I also thought that his loving but tense relationship with his sister Juliette (Charlotte Riley, no relation) was very well portrayed. Both siblings have been affected in different ways by the family tragedy and although they clearly love each other, they sometimes struggle to understand each other.

The crime aspect of the story was very well done, and I was kept guessing until the end. The only thing that spoiled it slightly for me was that the ending did seem a bit cliched and stretched the boundaries of belief somewhat. Despite this though, overall the film was well acted and there were plenty of things to keep the viewer guessing.

I hope that this isn’t the last we have seen of Will Wagstaffe and his team – I will be looking out for more feature length tv films with these characters.

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Year of release: 2016

Director: Colin Teague

Writer: Chris Lang

Main cast: Tom Riley, Charlotte Riley, Edward Akrout, Tom Brooke, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Miranda Raison

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Wuthering Heights (2009)

Posted in Period drama/comedy reviews, TV/Film adaptation reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

This review relates to the 2009 two-part adaptation of Emily Bronte’s novel, which starred Tom Hardy as Heathcliff, and Charlotte Riley as Cathy.  (Minor spoilers for the storyline may be contained herein.)

It’s taken me a long time to see this, I admit partly because of some of the negative reviews it received when it first aired.  However, I wish I had watched it earlier, because I really enjoyed it very much.  The story is of course very well known, but briefly, it concerns the love between Heathcliff and his step-sister Cathy – a love which was all-consuming, very intense, and affected not just the two characters, but all around them as well, leading to jealousy, revenge and tragedy.

Tom Hardy was excellent as Heathcliff – it was easy to see how someone could fall in love with him as a young man, before loss and ill-treatment by other members of the family caused him to turn bitter and angry.  He was charming and likeable, but he was also entirely believable as an older Heathcliff, determined to make Cathy’s family suffer for the misery they had visited upon him.

Charlotte Riley was lovely as Cathy – a beautiful young girl with a promising future, but who seemed destined for one path in life despite wanting to choose another.  The chemistry between the two main characters was easy to see (and it’s no surprise to learn that after meeting on this production, they became a couple in real life).

Support was provided by Sarah Lancashire, who was excellent as Nelly, Cathy’s maid (and subsequently the maid to Cathy’s daughter Catherine).  Lancashire is a really amazing actress, who always brings her roles to life, and she made a big impact in this show.  Additionally, Andrew Lincoln plays Edgar, who becomes Cathy’s husband, but never the true love of her life.  He is an actor who I sometimes find quite wooden, but he was very good here.  Burn Gorman played Hindley, the brother of Cathy who always resented Heathcliff’s intrusion in their lives, and he was superb.  He totally encapsulated the cruel and spiteful nature of the character, and made me dislike him intensely.

The whole production is very atmospheric – which I think is very important in any telling of this tale – and the Yorkshire moors where the story is set is portrayed beautifully.  There is plenty of emotion – love, happiness, anger, shock, grief – and it all makes for a very moving and enjoyable production.  And it made me cry!

If you’re a fan of the book (or even if you’re not), and haven’t seen this yet, I highly recommend that you watch it.

Year of release: 2009

Director: Coky Giedroyc

Writers: Emily Bronte (book), Peter Bowker

Main cast: Ton Hardy, Charlotte Riley, Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Lancashire, Burn Gorman

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