inframan

Two episodes in, but what a soap opera. There is no question Cate Blanchett is a remarkable actress and her fragile beauty is breathtaking. Here she does all the right moves and puts on all the appropriate facial and physical expressions, but in this venue I suspect an AI bot could have done as well. On top of which, as others have mentioned, her character is played by an entirely different (but less talented) actress in scenes taking place circa 20 years earlier. Yet her substitute looks no younger.

Opening scenes on a train and in Venice, also as mentioned by others, are superfluous and performed in an embarrassingly amateurish way. Kevin Kline and Leslie Manville are pros at what they do but totally wasted here.

All in all, what a mess, at least so far. Sorry, but I give up.

I've always enjoyed Vince Vaughn in everything. A sharp, witty actor & his large size and small boy features just accent his overall irony. The other actors here are very good, too, especially Meredith Hagner and Jodie Turner-Smith. John Ortiz is always first-rate, too. The settings and photography are stunning and the action moves right along. And yet...

The problem I have is that the movie feels padded. As the episodes progress, I feel like there's more and more Who Cares stuff. Like the relationship between Dragon Queen and Egg. I've read most of Carl Hiaasen's books and always love them, though I don't remember this one. Maybe on the page the stuff flies by, but on the screen it kind of ruins the overall tone.

I just finished episode 8 & am lowering my previous rate of 8 to a 6. Getting really boring & repetitive. Can't believe Hiaasen had all this mindless twaddle in the book. May not make it the rest of the way.

I can't believe I watched the whole thing. Last 2 or 3 episodes are embarrassingly bad. No plot tie-ins or tie-ups, just everyone jumping their own individual pathetic sharks. Wow, no sequel to this mess. Hopefully.

Is this truly based in a Hiaasen book?