A lot of money has been spent on this production, and it shows. John Turturro is great, as always, and the supporting cast includes stalwarts such as Sebastian Koch, Rupert Everett, and Michael Emerson. But you might want to hold off on making the popcorn. The Name of the Rose is a big book, but Jean-Jacques Annaud showed us that it's possible to present it on film in just a couple of hours or so; nevertheless, this series has been expanded to 8 one-hour episodes. You might expect the producers would want to explore plot points from the book in greater detail, but that hasn't really happened. Instead the writers have been busy updating Eco's masterpiece to speak more directly to contemporary issues. In the first two episodes (all I've seen of the series), you can tick off feminism, immigration, torture, gay rights--you name it (perhaps your time would be better spent at the microwave after all). When it focuses on Eco's story, the series can be riveting, and I'm eager to learn more about the library. So what if Damian Hardung as Adso of Melk seems to belong to a different century?--that was also the impression I had of Christian Slater as Adso in Annaud's 1986 film, and it didn't ruin the story for me. John Turturro, on the other hand, is perfect as William of Baskerville, even if we won't be forgetting Sean Connery right away, and there's nary a hint of a Brooklyn accent in his delivery. So I guess I'm in for the long haul.
