Adam Lenhardt
Senior HTF Member
Caleb Carr's best selling novel finally makes its way to the screen in the form of a 10-episode limited series event on TNT. The series premiered last night after the SAG Awards, and the pilot was aired again tonight.
From a technical standpoint, this is a first-class production. TNT, Paramount and Anonymous Content have spared no expense. Shot over the course of six months in Budapest, the production carefully weaved together period-appropriate locations and massive sets to recreate 1896 New York City. Jane Eyre production designer Will Hughes-Jones and Django Unchained art director Mara LePere-Schloop create a world that is dark and grimy but fully immersive. Star Wars sequel trilogy costume designer Michael Kaplan populates the world with late nineteenth century fashions.
The cast is also top-notch, led by a trio of major film stars: Daniel Brühl stars as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the titular character who is pioneering a line of work that will come to be known as profiling. Luke Evans plays John Moore, one of the top illustrators for the New York Times, brought in by Kreizler to document crime scenes. And Dakota Fanning is Sara Howard, the secretary to the commissioner of police and the first woman to work at Police Headquarters. Q'orianka Kilcher and Ted Levine also pop up in supporting roles.
The strange thing is that when you set aside the sumptuous production and period setting, what you're left with is a pretty standard TNT crime procedural. Kreizler, Moore and Howard are clearly destined to become a crime-solving team. And while the methods made differ from the modern day, the story rhythms are largely the same.
The biggest disappointment for me is Brian Geraghty as Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. He plays the role too subdued and too somber. Sean Astin was originally cast in the role and filmed for some time before flying back and forth between Atlanta and Budapest became too much. I think he would have better captured the larger than life persona that Teddy Roosevelt demands.
The performance that works best for me is Evans as Moore. He's the character that feels least constricted by the period setting. Brühl is very solid as Kreizler, but the script burdens him with too much portentous dialog. When he's allowed to do rather than just ruminate, as in the scene where he interviews the late stage syphilitic man covered in gummas, the character comes to life.
Fanning wasn't given much to do in this pilot: she is a woman from privilege, operating in a man's field during a time of repressive gender roles. That leaves her to play frustrating and indignant. We've seen this character plenty of times before. I look forward to seeing what she brings to the table once the show breaks her out of the box society has placed her in.
From a technical standpoint, this is a first-class production. TNT, Paramount and Anonymous Content have spared no expense. Shot over the course of six months in Budapest, the production carefully weaved together period-appropriate locations and massive sets to recreate 1896 New York City. Jane Eyre production designer Will Hughes-Jones and Django Unchained art director Mara LePere-Schloop create a world that is dark and grimy but fully immersive. Star Wars sequel trilogy costume designer Michael Kaplan populates the world with late nineteenth century fashions.
The cast is also top-notch, led by a trio of major film stars: Daniel Brühl stars as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the titular character who is pioneering a line of work that will come to be known as profiling. Luke Evans plays John Moore, one of the top illustrators for the New York Times, brought in by Kreizler to document crime scenes. And Dakota Fanning is Sara Howard, the secretary to the commissioner of police and the first woman to work at Police Headquarters. Q'orianka Kilcher and Ted Levine also pop up in supporting roles.
The strange thing is that when you set aside the sumptuous production and period setting, what you're left with is a pretty standard TNT crime procedural. Kreizler, Moore and Howard are clearly destined to become a crime-solving team. And while the methods made differ from the modern day, the story rhythms are largely the same.
The biggest disappointment for me is Brian Geraghty as Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. He plays the role too subdued and too somber. Sean Astin was originally cast in the role and filmed for some time before flying back and forth between Atlanta and Budapest became too much. I think he would have better captured the larger than life persona that Teddy Roosevelt demands.
The performance that works best for me is Evans as Moore. He's the character that feels least constricted by the period setting. Brühl is very solid as Kreizler, but the script burdens him with too much portentous dialog. When he's allowed to do rather than just ruminate, as in the scene where he interviews the late stage syphilitic man covered in gummas, the character comes to life.
Fanning wasn't given much to do in this pilot: she is a woman from privilege, operating in a man's field during a time of repressive gender roles. That leaves her to play frustrating and indignant. We've seen this character plenty of times before. I look forward to seeing what she brings to the table once the show breaks her out of the box society has placed her in.