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The Little Drummer Girl (2018)
Usually when doing a screen adaption of a novel, the task is how to get most of the key narrative from the book transferred to the film. In the case of "Drummer Girl", either there wasn't enough detail to feature in the film, or the story could have been better told in perhaps 4, rather than 6, hours. Put another way, despite some light plot twists and competent acting, this series was laborious.
Part of the problem was that the ending really wasn't ever in any doubt. So the presentation of LeCarre's story became the work horse. Not having read the novel it's unknown how faithful the screen play was to it. Presumably, capturing LeCarre's dark prose while keeping the plot interesting is tricky.
Casting Florence Pugh as "Charlie" --the main protagonist-- was a misfire. The pudgy Brit blonde was not believable enough as a determined double agent. And the set up of her being sought out from her profession as an actress to take on a highly dangerous clandestine spy gig was a stretch right from the git-go.
Alexander Skarsgard looked the part. But if he does indeed have some seasoned acting chops, his approach here was too wooden. Michael Shannon did a predictably good job (despite his erratic Israeli accent) as the spy squad leader. It's the kind of role Shannon could do in his sleep. Supposedly the trick with him is to not let him lapse into creepiness. But his role was of equal importance to Pugh's.
The Little Drummer Girl was very watchable, but incited no wonderment nor emotional involvement.
Doc's rating: 5.5 of 10
Usually when doing a screen adaption of a novel, the task is how to get most of the key narrative from the book transferred to the film. In the case of "Drummer Girl", either there wasn't enough detail to feature in the film, or the story could have been better told in perhaps 4, rather than 6, hours. Put another way, despite some light plot twists and competent acting, this series was laborious.
Part of the problem was that the ending really wasn't ever in any doubt. So the presentation of LeCarre's story became the work horse. Not having read the novel it's unknown how faithful the screen play was to it. Presumably, capturing LeCarre's dark prose while keeping the plot interesting is tricky.
Casting Florence Pugh as "Charlie" --the main protagonist-- was a misfire. The pudgy Brit blonde was not believable enough as a determined double agent. And the set up of her being sought out from her profession as an actress to take on a highly dangerous clandestine spy gig was a stretch right from the git-go.
Alexander Skarsgard looked the part. But if he does indeed have some seasoned acting chops, his approach here was too wooden. Michael Shannon did a predictably good job (despite his erratic Israeli accent) as the spy squad leader. It's the kind of role Shannon could do in his sleep. Supposedly the trick with him is to not let him lapse into creepiness. But his role was of equal importance to Pugh's.
The Little Drummer Girl was very watchable, but incited no wonderment nor emotional involvement.
Doc's rating: 5.5 of 10
Last edited by GulfportDoc; 11-29-18 at 08:06 PM.
