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Reviews39
bnitcamela's rating
There is nothing believable about this short series. If you accept that going in, you will have a much more positive opinion of it from about midway through to the (thoroughly unsatisfying) end.
Christoph Waltz - his presence, his demeanor, his acting - can only salvage so much and the writers/producers left too much on his plate to turn this utterly forgettable miniseries into something special. Don't get me wrong, the supporting cast does fine; better than average really. But the sum of the parts is just not very compelling.
Now let me throw in that I've heard about the novel and the author of the novel (and his other books - highly touted by Stephen King, a very haughty recommendation indeed), but I haven't read it/them. However, I'm suspecting that the writers and producers of the Amazon series must have missed on something very key to the message in the original story as it was told. Something's just off. In many cases concerning TV shows and movies there's already a need to suspend disbelief, especially if the audience is going to need to accept what they see as a metaphor or other device intended to convey a larger message. And I sense that "The Consultant" may have been such a story in the original print, but it's nothing even remotely like that in how Amazon has put it on the screen.
Obligatory disclaimer - Yes, it's entertaining enough to watch to the end. Yes, it's visually well done. And yes, it's professionally produced. But there is something major missing and by the 8th and final episode, I found myself not caring what happened to anyone involved because, frankly, nothing remotely realistic or believable in real human terms had happened.
"The Consultant" doesn't know what it is trying to be and it's painfully obvious. I trust that more who actually watch the whole thing will agree with me than will disagree.
4.5 rounded to 5 stars on the aggregate.
Christoph Waltz - his presence, his demeanor, his acting - can only salvage so much and the writers/producers left too much on his plate to turn this utterly forgettable miniseries into something special. Don't get me wrong, the supporting cast does fine; better than average really. But the sum of the parts is just not very compelling.
Now let me throw in that I've heard about the novel and the author of the novel (and his other books - highly touted by Stephen King, a very haughty recommendation indeed), but I haven't read it/them. However, I'm suspecting that the writers and producers of the Amazon series must have missed on something very key to the message in the original story as it was told. Something's just off. In many cases concerning TV shows and movies there's already a need to suspend disbelief, especially if the audience is going to need to accept what they see as a metaphor or other device intended to convey a larger message. And I sense that "The Consultant" may have been such a story in the original print, but it's nothing even remotely like that in how Amazon has put it on the screen.
Obligatory disclaimer - Yes, it's entertaining enough to watch to the end. Yes, it's visually well done. And yes, it's professionally produced. But there is something major missing and by the 8th and final episode, I found myself not caring what happened to anyone involved because, frankly, nothing remotely realistic or believable in real human terms had happened.
"The Consultant" doesn't know what it is trying to be and it's painfully obvious. I trust that more who actually watch the whole thing will agree with me than will disagree.
4.5 rounded to 5 stars on the aggregate.
The funny thing about this flick is what caused me to totally give up on it. Was it the wooden acting? No. How about the terrible sound design/soundtrack? Nope. Or the casting where they made an obvious fail in using a dude about the same age as the lead actor as "the creepy old guy."
No, it was the ridiculously amateur, intelligence insulting background radio dialog/announcing during two separate car trips. On the way to the store and back for some pasta that they forgot (3 boxes???), the radio in the SUV plays in the background and provides what seems like expository information. But it was so friggin amateur! The announcer is talking about a trail that the community had voted to fund re-opening after a girl had fallen down while jogging. The mayor is mentioned, but not his or her name like you'd hear on any local radio station. No. Just "the mayor" says this...the "opposition leader" says that...Then they get to the weather. When reading the weekly forecast do they use the standard "The high temp will be 72 and the low temp will be 65"? No, they say "The maximum will be 72 and the minimum will be 65 as we watch the skies for you in this already hot summer..." NOBODY reads a weather forecast like that in the United States. It's THE HIGH WILL BE or THE LOW WILL BE.
But seriously that really isn't the only reason this movie is terrible, of course. All of those things I mentioned in my opening paragraph are true. The acting is wooden, the casting is a fail, the sound design is garbage, the cinematography is puzzlingly disjointed and in many places not even relevant to what's happening in the story (of which there is not much of one).
Take note of the overhead drone footage of the forest as they drive into the mountains headed to the cabin. Hmmm....where have we seen this before? Ominous music playing as we see the tops of pine trees (going in multiple directions?!) and an aerial view of a car with a couple inside. All that was missing was Danny and his imaginary friend. Just a terrible job of trying to ape Kubrick for absolutely no reason. Then there are the lingering camera shots when the character has left the frame as the camera then slowly changes focus to the background in an ominous manner while spooky music plays where......there's nobody whatsoever present! What is the point of this?
This is 3rd year film school quality at best. Do not waste your money or time on this garbage. The literal only good thing I can say about it is that the lead actress is pretty attractive. That's it.
3/10.
No, it was the ridiculously amateur, intelligence insulting background radio dialog/announcing during two separate car trips. On the way to the store and back for some pasta that they forgot (3 boxes???), the radio in the SUV plays in the background and provides what seems like expository information. But it was so friggin amateur! The announcer is talking about a trail that the community had voted to fund re-opening after a girl had fallen down while jogging. The mayor is mentioned, but not his or her name like you'd hear on any local radio station. No. Just "the mayor" says this...the "opposition leader" says that...Then they get to the weather. When reading the weekly forecast do they use the standard "The high temp will be 72 and the low temp will be 65"? No, they say "The maximum will be 72 and the minimum will be 65 as we watch the skies for you in this already hot summer..." NOBODY reads a weather forecast like that in the United States. It's THE HIGH WILL BE or THE LOW WILL BE.
But seriously that really isn't the only reason this movie is terrible, of course. All of those things I mentioned in my opening paragraph are true. The acting is wooden, the casting is a fail, the sound design is garbage, the cinematography is puzzlingly disjointed and in many places not even relevant to what's happening in the story (of which there is not much of one).
Take note of the overhead drone footage of the forest as they drive into the mountains headed to the cabin. Hmmm....where have we seen this before? Ominous music playing as we see the tops of pine trees (going in multiple directions?!) and an aerial view of a car with a couple inside. All that was missing was Danny and his imaginary friend. Just a terrible job of trying to ape Kubrick for absolutely no reason. Then there are the lingering camera shots when the character has left the frame as the camera then slowly changes focus to the background in an ominous manner while spooky music plays where......there's nobody whatsoever present! What is the point of this?
This is 3rd year film school quality at best. Do not waste your money or time on this garbage. The literal only good thing I can say about it is that the lead actress is pretty attractive. That's it.
3/10.
