‘Feud: Capote vs the Swans’

Addictive in that gossipy tabloid soap opera way, season two of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series sees Truman Capote fall foul of the wealthy Upper West Side New York socialites and namely closest ally, Babe Paley.

Struggling post publication of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) finds solace in the bottom of the vodka bottle and lunching or shopping with Babe Paley (Naomi Watts), wife of media mogul William Paley (Treat Williams in his last role). So much so his long standing relationship with Jack Dunphy (Joe Mantello) is on the rocks and the publishers are demanding the return of the advance they paid out, Capote having missed five deadlines with no sign of the finished manuscript. And if it’s not Babe, it’s C. Z. ‘Seezee’ Guest (Chloë Sevigny) or Nancy ‘Slim’ Keith (Diane Lane) across the table at New York institution La Côte Basque – or all three plus Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart), sister of Jackie Kennedy. Indiscretion is the order of the day as Capote amuses the (orginal) ladies-who-lunch with anecdotes, opinions and salacious gossip.

But ever the writer, Capote watches and listens, no matter how much alcohol (by him) is consumed. With new lover John O’Shea (Russell Tovey) suggesting Truman use his friends’ lives as the basis for his next novel, Capote publishes an excerpt in Esquire magazine. Truman’s downward spiral begins as the women, recognising themselves in the thinly veiled characterisations of extreme privilege, form a united front against the man they thought friend and confidant.

Interweaving stories from early days of the Paley/Truman friendship (1955) through the years to the current mid-1970s, Feud: Capote vs the Swans is a compelling melodrama as 1970s Truman self-destructs with Dunphy valiantly attempting to support him. The lynchpin of the group of ‘swans’, Babe is diagnosed with cancer (she died in 1978 at the age of 63) and it is her story that is closely linked to Capote’s own battles. William Paley’s constant sexual misdemeanours sit side by side with the violence of O’Shea – yet, in spite of Capote’s best efforts, a firm wedge has been driven between him and Babe. Only Seezee attempts to heal the rift as the writer slowly pickles himself, time in rehab to no avail.

Compelling though it may be, with six of the eight episodes directed by Gus Van Sant, a key problem with Feud: Capote vs the Swans is its repetition – a repetition of lunches at La Côte Basque, a repitition of a drunk Capote making a fool of himself somewhere, a repitition of Dunphy reaching out. It’s a privileged world but little depth comes to the surface with the swans in particular somewhat one dimensional. Hollander, however, is annoyingly magnetic – his performance over eight demanding episodes readily sitting alongside the portrayals by Toby Jones (Infamous) and Oscar-winning Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote).

Rating: 66%

‘The Great Train Robbery’

An intriguing two part telling of one of the most audacious heists in British history – the theft of  £2.61 million from the Royal Mail train travelling between Glasgow and London in August 1963.

Over its two parts (each 90 minutes long, both written by Chris Chibnall), The Great Train Robbery sees events from two sides. Part one, with Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) heading the gang, is the lead up and stopping of the train as some 15 men, holed up for a week in a nearby farm purchased specifically for the occasion, empty the train of 120 mailbags. An enormous embarassment to the government of the day, DCS Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) is placed in charge of the investigation with DI Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) his righthand man. Results are expected – and quickly. Part two is the tracking down of the gang with pressure placed on narks to deliver names – nothing of this size would not go unnoticed in the London underworld.

Some are rounded up pretty quickly – the instruction not to flash money around too easily ignored by some. And the clean up of the farmhouse was not as thorough as it should have been. But it’s the ringleaders the overbearing and bullying Butler (its the 1960s after all – 15 hour shifts 7 days a week expected with no time off) wants – and the likes of Reynolds, Gordon Goody (Paul Anderson) and Roy James (Martin Compston) are that much more difficult to track down. Reynolds certainly keeps his head down – with the takings more than double what was expected (calculated to present-day value of £58 million), he knows the authorities will throw everything at him: even Parliament steps in and interferes with investigations.

Both parts are straightforward, point-of-view procedural dramas chronicling events and built around known truths. It’s all pretty low key but intriguing nevertheless – but with Reynolds a likeable rogue and Butler a bullying member of the establishment, there’s no doubt where most sympathies lie!

Rating: 64%

‘The New Look’ (Season 1)

French haute couture under the microscope as the occupying Germans withdraw from Paris and the fashion houses look to recover from war and the taint of collaboration.

In the House of Lelong, Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) has made a name for himself and Lucien Lelong (John Malkovich). But personal issues undermine Dior’s confidence: he is forced to keep his relationship with Jacques (David Kammenos) out of the public eye; the arrest of his younger sister Catherine (Maisie Williams) with her deportation to Malthausen as a member of the Resistance. Lelong has also, controversially, kept his doors open during the Occupation, selling couture to wives and (French) girlfriends of the Nazis.

Whilst the likes of Balenciaga, Balmain and Pierre Cardin jockey for position to be the new face of post-war French fashion, the pre-war couture celebrity Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) lords it up in style at her home in a suite of rooms at The Ritz in Paris before fleeing to hide in plain sight in Swiss luxury. Accused of collaboration with her German lover and spy Hans ‘Spatz’ Von Dincklage (Claes Bang), Chanel is threatened with arrest if she returns to France. She is determined to regain her position, wholly dismissive of Dior and the other ‘boys’.

Whilst the two barely meet over the 10 engrossing episodes of The New Look, the central narrative explores the lives of the two designers prior to 1948 and events leading up to the ascendency of the House of Dior. The home of Dior is sombre, Catherine arrested early in the narrative with Christian deeply concerned about his sister even on her return, having survived the horrors of the camps. Chanel is all champagne and partying. As a guest of Spatz, she mixes with high ranking German officials including the head of Security Services in France, Walter Schellenberg (Jannis Niewöhner) at The Ritz. In Switzerland, luxury hotels are the setting for negotiating the return of her business.

The New Look is something of a mixed bag. Unquestionably stylish with Mendelsohn a revelation in the quiet dignity of Dior whilst the frippery of Chanel is balanced by the steely determination of business. But undermining the whole is the uncertainty of truths presented, particularly Coco Chanel and the diluting of links to the Nazi party, her anti-semitism and wider political views. Lelong’s decision to keep open as it supplied work and Dior gave his money to the Resistance is simply accepted without much thought. And by staying mainly in Paris and Swiss hotels (an ill-advised escapade by Chanel to Madrid with Spatz and English friend Elsa Lombardi – Emily Mortimer – verges on slapstick), The New Look remains lovely to look at and can avoid the wider issues of the occupation, Vichy and deportations.

Rating: 64%

‘The Gentlemen'(Season 1)

Thematically adapted from his film of the same name, Guy Ritchie extends the narrative over an eight episode miniseries as old-school aristocracy with their vast, expensive-to-run secluded estates look to financial opportunities offered by the criminal underworld.

On the death of his father, second son Edward ‘Eddie’ Horniman (Theo James) unexpectedly inherits his father’s title and sizeable estate. Older brother Freddy (Daniel Ings) is something of a walking disaster, abusing his privilege (and assumed inheritance) in drink, drugs, gambling – and debt. But if the reading of the will is a surprise, it’s nothing compared to Eddie’s discovery there’s an agreement with underworld legend Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone). An enormous marijuana producing state-of-the-art laboratory is to be found deep beneath the stables. And there’s 11 other estates with similar arrangements and a sizeable annual fee payable to each of the families. But with Glass currently incarcerated it’s daughter Susie (Kaya Scodelario) running the multi-million pound business.

Mom (Joely Richardson) and Freddy are only too aware of the arrangement. But Eddie wants out. In looking to extract the family, over the eight episodes Horniman finds himself drawn further and further into proceedings. Protecting the family name finds necessary collaboration with the Glass empire against the Colombian cartel, American billionaire Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito) and born-again, self-proclaimed pastor Gospel John (Pearce Quigley) and his thugs. With his military training, Horniman discovers he’s a natural. And with lots of double-crossings, deals, counter deals as well as the inconsistent older brother, Eddie needs to be at the top of his game.

The extended format of a miniseries suits Ritchie. There’s plenty of snap to the dialogue and action is thick and fast with occasional extreme violence – namely Ritchie’s trademarks. But time is spent on character development: Eddie in particular goes on a very personal journey from an officer in a UN peacekeeping unit to a heart of darkness.

Rating: 77%

‘Pam & Tommy’

A confronting yet enjoyable eight part miniseries that follows Baywatch TV star Pamela Anderson’s wild whirlwind romance with Tommy Lee which results in marriage after only 96 hours.

Two phenomenal performances anchor the crazed narrative of this hugely entertaining if occasionally confronting eight episoder. As Anderson, Lily James grows in stature, demanding to be heard above and beyond the ‘all swimsuit and dumb blonde’ label attached by the Baywatch showrunners. And the initially ever-supportive cocaine-fueled Tommy Lee brilliantly played by Sebastian Stan is inconsistent, anarchic and occasionally terrifying – as electrician Rand (Seth Rogen) finds out early on in the story.

It’s the decision to position the focus of the narrative from Rand’s perspective that makes for an interesting telling. Struggling financially, the electrician and former part-time porn performer finds Lee’s refusal to pay his bills a challenge. Revenge is sweet as Rand steals the enormous safe from Lee’s garage. And in that safe…. the famed personal sex tape. The non-too-bright Rand thinks he’s struck gold – as does adult film producer and former employer Uncle Miltie (Nick Offerman).

The newly weds are not aware initially that the tape has gone: the early episodes interweave crazed marital bliss with Rogen and Offerman exploring ways of exploiting the footage (it’s the early 90s – the internet is in its infancy and there were no privacy laws covering such material). Even when it becomes public, the knowledge of the release takes time to filter down. But when the penny finally drops, the repercussions are massive. So begins a destructive domino principle as lives are changed forever – none more so than that of Pamela Anderson, desperate as she was to be taken seriously as an actor. Such personal material in the public domain is personally and professionally destroying. Lee is equally outraged but fails to understand his wife’s distraught view that as a woman things are far worse for her. Desperate to minimise the attention, she is ignored as Lee and his band of lawyers look to legal action after legal action, resulting in the controversy snowballing.

To add controversy to scandal, Pamela Anderson herself was none too happy about the unauthorised revisiting of the story. But there’s no denying the power of the tale and, prodigious talking prosthetics aside, Pam & Tommy is extremely well made.

Rating: 71%

‘Criminal Record’

Powerful, intense eight episode narrative as two East London detectives go head-to-head over a historic murder case that highlights old values, prejudices and institutional racism.

For DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo), the incarceration of Errol Mathis (Tom Moutchi), half way through a sentence of 24 years for the murder of his girlfriend, looks to be a miscarriage of justice. A chance 999 call from a terrified woman in fear for her life from a current boyfriend sets Lenker off on her own investigation. There were just a few too many details coming from the phone call to simply ignore. In spite of being told to drop it, she confronts DCI Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) who headed the case more than a decade ago.

Only a year into her position, Lenker certainly upsets the establishment in questioning the highly respected and long-serving Hegarty. And his loyal team of (white male) detectives are less than impressed as the rookie detective continues to make her own investigations. Initially under the guise of trying to find the 999 caller, she talks to Mathis’ mother (Cathy Tyson) and lawyer (Aysha Kala). And a web of corruption, racism and bending of truths slowly unfold. Even the torching of her vehicle and arrest of son Jacob (Jordan A. Nash) for possession fail to divert Lenker’s determination to uncover the truth. Obsessed in the belief it’s all down to Hegarty, her relationships with husband Leo (Stephen Campbell Moore) and colleagues are put at risk.

Old ways, old values in contemporary London as gang warfare in East London escalates. Hegarty’s network built over decades provides plenty of leads – but it’s the likes of Lenker and DC Chloe Summers (Dionne Brown) who understand the lie of the land. It’s the current investigations that bring Hegarty and Lenker to work together but the Mathis case remains the elephant in the room. Question is just how much Hegarty knows, particularly when team member DS Tony Gilfoyle (Charlie Creed-Miles) is revealed to be an active on-line member of a far-right organisation.

Whilst guilty of occasionally skirting issues raised and abandoning characters worthy of knowing more (husband Leo and mother Zoë Wanamaker in particular), Criminal Record remains tense and compelling with strong central performances from Jumbo and Capaldi.

Rating: 77%

‘Welcome to Chippendales’

The extraordinary genesis tale told over eight episodes of the LA-based Chippendales night club founded by Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee and the original home of the male-stripper phenomenon that is The Chippendales.

From drug abuse to murder, money laundering to lawsuits, racism to homophobia Welcome to Chippendales (directed by Matt Shakman and written by Robert Siegel) is an unexpected gamut of dramatic and melodramatic power struggles as Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani) looks to hold on to the company he formed. As an immigrant, it’s his American dream and it’s this that was being undermined, having struggled to make a success of himself since arriving from India. Mistakes had been made along the way but having invested all he had in the lease of a closed-down club in West Hollywood, to Banerjee he deserved the accolades for the founding of The Chippendales. He dreamt of being the next Hugh Hefner.

Problem is those mistakes cost dearly. Through advice, Banerjee had reluctantly tapped into the emerging 1970s women’s equality movement. Men have strip clubs, so why not women? Hen nights and the like aplenty as women flocked – but same men same routines resulted in no returning audiences. Two significant figures entered Banerjee’s life at this juncture. Accountant and reluctant audience member Irene (Annaleigh Ashford) who was to later become Banerjee’s wife. And Emmy-award winning television personality and choreographer Nick De Nola (Murray Bartlett).

Irene turned the finances around. It was she who was the powerhouse to Banerjee’s early ideas. A one-off choreography commission from De Nola was to escalate into the opening of a (more tasteful) New York venue and the touring arm of The Chippendales. Only Banerjee and De Nola were like chalk and cheese: no matter how successful, the two clashed. Banerjee had the need for recognition but his skills were limited. The more arrogant, strutting De Nola attracted the accolades for the success without due acknowledgement of his employer. The situation was not helped by Banerjee’s greed and lack of business acumen: mistakes cost the company millions of dollars. De Nola running New York and the State-wide tour was bringing in the money, not LA.

In spite of the profits being made, the antagonism Banerjee felt could not be left to rest. Appeals fell on deaf ears. Actions taken were to lead to tragic consequences that threatened the very existence of The Chippendales as the FBI tracked the movements and business deals made between LA and New York. It’s an extraordinary eight episodes as uptight LA is juxtaposed with the monied partying of New York as De Nola and lover Bradford (Andrew Rannells) along with business associate Denise (Juliette Lewis) take everything to the extreme – but continue to make money and lots of it.

Rating: 67%

’Beef’

Award-winning 10 part dark comedy of a miniseries, Beef sees two people consumed by road rage and a continued determination to get one up on each other for months after the event.

An LA car park and a near collision sees the luxury white SUV driven by Amy Lau (Ali Wong) and the ute of Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) involved in a crazy car chase around the suburban streets. Nothing comes of the chase but the two now know each other’s identity and place of work and home. (In the States a payment will provide personal details of the holder of a given car registration).

Cue 10 episodes of dark comedy that palpably build over time as the two go to extraordinary lengths to better the other in order to appease their simmering anger.

Amy is a wealthy business woman on the verge of selling her company for a small fortune. But the buyer, billionaire Jordan (Maria Bello), has been stringing her out for some time, placing obstacles to the sale. A fraught Amy, already liable to bouts of depression, struggles with anger issues that cause problems with her Zen-like husband George Nakai (Joseph Lee) and a mother-in-law she does not like (Patti Yasutake).

Danny Cho is frustrated and angry – a struggling electrician who feels marginalised as a Korean in the US but also has family issues: his parents have returned to Korea following the collapse of their motel business and his live-in younger brother Paul (Young Mazino) prefers video games to work. His recenty paroled wheeler-dealer cousin Isaac (David Choe) contributed to the demise of the family business. How far can Danny trust him and his ideas?

From ‘simple’ vandalism, revenge escalates. Danny befriends an unaware George: Amy has an affair with Paul. Isaac causes all kinds of trouble. The two also try to get on with their own lives – Amy through work and her family, Danny through the Church. Much of it is in the realms of possibility. Until the final episode at least. By the last episode it’s all seemingly too late even if, at different points throughout the 10-part series, each has reached a possible stopping point. But always at the wrong moment. The explosive finale blows all that out the window as the two finally reach a level of self-awareness. But at great cost to themselves and others.

Created by Lee Sung Jin, Beef beautifully plays on the ‘I’m in the right here’ mode as the incident comes when both Amy and Danny were each at moments of uncertainty in their lives. The need for self confirmation is epitomised by their determination to ‘win’ (without knowing what that actually means).

Rating: 69%

’Boy Swallows Universe’

A dark adaptation of the best selling coming-of-age novel by Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe is a 1980s Brisbane tale. Eli and his selectively mute brother navigate life on the margins including the disappearance of their drug-dealing stepfather.

Precocious Eli (Felix Cameron) lives with his brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley) in a run down suburban home. Well-cared for by mom, former addict Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin), and larrikin drug dealer Lyle (Travis Fimmel), it’s a happy home full of love and adventure. Baby-sitter and mentor to the boys is a convicted murderer (Bryan Brown) and Eli is penpal to a lifer. Life is never dull!

But always looking to skim a little off the top, Lyle disappears. And what’s worse, that same night Frankie is arrested and imprisoned. The boys are forced to live with their alcoholic, agoraphobic father, Robert (Simon Baker) fully aware of the local mob’s role in Lyle’s disappearance. They want to know just where that ‘little off the top’ is – and when Lyle keeps quiet, boss Tytus Broz (Anthony LaPaglia) sends his boys after Eli and Gus.

Poor Eli is confused – he wants to follow his heart and simply be good. And gain justice for Lyle. But the people around him do not make it easy. And as the years pass by, mom is finally released and 17 year-old Eli (Zac Burgess) gets to experience a different world to the opening episodes of a childhood five or so years earlier. But Broz is still in his sights.

Told over seven energetic episodes, Boy Swallows Universe with its dark humour is archetypal ’80s Australian trope. Mullets, thongs, Hawaiian shirts aplenty in this sprawling underworld tale that, in spite of it gritty, serious subject matter, is also full of heart. The final scenes may be gratuitously melodramatic and feel rushed after six and a half episodes of social commentary and childhood magical-realism, but as an adaptation, scriptwriter John Collee (whose credits include Master & Commander, Happy Feet and Hotel Mumbai) has captured the colour, exuberance and sheer joy of its source.

Rating: 73%

’Lessons in Chemistry’

Highly engaging charm of a miniseries whereby female empowerment is the order of the day in spite of numerous setbacks.

1950s misogyny finds trained chemist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) fired from the lab where she knows more than most of her male counterparts. Somewhat on the spectrum and something of a loner, Zott finds herself unexpectedly involved in a relationship with a fellow chemist (Lewis Pullman) who, unlike colleagues, feels unthreatened and therefore has no problem with her gender. Also a loner, things develop in a more personal nature but tragedy strikes and, alone, Zott discovers she is pregnant.

Elizabeth turns tragedy into personal triumph as fledgling television beckons a woman whose scientific application transfers itself into formulaic but perfect live on-air cooking. She becomes enormously successful and powerful female television personality, using it to her (and others) advantage.

Adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name by Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry is charm incarnate as, over a decade or so, it gently addresses the position of women in 1950s/’60s suburban America along with, even gentler, race relations (her closest friend is neighbourhood activist Aja Naomi King). Told over eight elegant episodes, Lessons in Chemistry engages from the off and keeps you with it all the way, saddened and delighted by the various unexpected plot line tangents.

Rating: 76%