Life on Mars needs life
I’ve rewatched the Life on Mars American pilot (the one which will not air) and it’s improved slightly on a second viewing, but not much. Some general comments:
- Colm Meaney as Capt Gene Hunt: Meaney is a terrific actor—he was brilliant in Layer Cake—and I thought he would bring that sort of demeanour to his Gene Genie. But apart from the orientation scene when he tells Sam it’s 1972, and threatening a witness, he’s plain nice. Even though he knows Sam claims he’s from 2007, he asks him nicely to interview a witness. He also doesn’t smoke, there’s no hint of him being the high sheriff of his domain, nor is there any hint of racism or homophobia. I had hoped he would evoke John Wayne in McQ or Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle but the man is given no room to be a “licensed hood” in the script. He’s certainly not ‘an overweight, over-the-hill, nicotime-stained borderline alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding’ as was described in the original series;
- Jason O’Mara as Det Sam Tyler: rigid, and never feeling that much confusion over being back in 1972. With John Simm, we felt a sense of disorientation, but we don’t with O’Mara’s performance. O’Mara is a great leading man but shows none of the vulnerability here that I think the Sam Tyler role needs. I don’t know much of his work, but I believe he has that Celtic edge that’s needed to pull off the role well—but he needs better direction;
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Rachelle Lefèvre as Det Annie Cartwright: playing the straight woman to Sam Tyler, it’s not hard to see why she was cast first by David E. Kelley. Her performance is about the only one I would rate highly, and it’s on a par with Liz White’s PW Annie Cartwright without being an attempt at copying her. Although her publicity shots are rather glamorous, the Rachelle Lefèvre in the programme looks more down-to-earth and real. Perfect.
My other comments about the overall storyline in the earlier post stand. It is missing something in the first half, but the second half and, in particular, the last act where Sam is in the diner to the rooftop scene with Annie are quite well done.
It’s still mostly inconceivable that everyone in the department knows Sam thinks he’s from the future, yet no one throws him into the funny farm. There’s a veiled threat, not much more. The story lacks humour and there is little “how far we have come” about it other than in technology and location—the social commentary seems to have disappeared for a straight twenty-first-century cop show that just happens to be set in 1972. There is only one sexist line—but in a 1972 police department, one would expect much more misogyny. Heck, there was more in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
I normally complain about network tinkering, but in this case I think it’s needed. I just hope the remake of the remake fixes the problems in Kelley’s Life on Mars, as some network types tend to worsen things. Simply having more dialogue with the creators—Graham, Pharoah and Jordan—might help, rather than the two hours Kelley reportedly spent. Even The Office in the US had the hand of Gervais and Merchant. Life on Mars needs help, because, put simply, it lacks life.
Comments
It sounds like this show would have been able to stick more to its origins on one of the cable networks like HBO or even FX, which shows some really edgy stuff (Rescue Me and The Shield if you have heard of those.)
I was hoping that the US version could exploit the same and use the same excuse in doing so—à la Archie Bunker et al. It would be refreshing and I agree it would probably go down well. Gene Hunt is not someone we want to emulate, but he is someone who expresses a bygone era—and for some, he probably does express a more primal side that we all have. He doesn’t care if he uses the word poof and if a gay man or woman hears it; we tread more carefully.
I don’t think, as some do, that Gene Hunt would lead to a return to greater mainstream sexism and homophobia.
Another central idea of the series is that Sam Tyler has a 21st-century approach to things and contrasts it with his boss—something that was all too seldom covered in the characterization of the unaired pilot.
I'm mean honestly., there were a lot of style around then, it's tv and you never need to be too exact, but on what planet do with of those outfits look hot.
sure it's an eye candy perspective, but honestly the original sam tyler, looks great and so does annie, why didn't they bring that fashion sensibilty over?
http://io9.com/397874/american-life-on-mars-getting-a-sopranos-star