hughlr

(Reviewed after the pilot) ...but, unfortunately, a bit meh so far. If I'm honest, I had American Gigolo in my head when I started watching this, but as soon as an actor chosen & made up to look like Richard Gere appeared, my brain suspended belief and thought for a few minutes that it was watching an updated, grittier version of Pretty Woman. The acting so far is is competent and the production values are high (although some of the aging variations are a little strained), but it feels dry, humourless, and seems to lack a soul. Many of the scenes don't move the plot along much, and more specifically don't add any depth or empathy to any of the characters. And, as another reviewer has pointed out, why mess with some of the iconic elements of the original film if you are going to invite comparisons through your casting choices? There have been reboots of (comparable?) 'low-life' dramas from the 80s which have added a modern nuance to their originals to good effect; sadly, the pilot suggests this may not be one of them.

Find Me in Paris was an English Language show made in Germany, but set in Paris, and this appears to be a transposition of it. Find Me had a naive charm because of the casting, the acting (which definitely got better as the actors grew into it), the slightly slapstick script, and because it recognised its effects budget was limited but used what money it had to good effect. It was total escapism that had some basic moral points to make about teen/ya relationships, and my son really enjoyed it. By using ballet as the baseline, it created some interesting dance style interactions. This attempt to update it (sorry, only got through the first episode) tries too hard and on the evidence I have seen so far is just not engaging. Pity; teen time travel fantasy can be very entertaining when done properly...