Edge of Darkness (1985)

This is a pretty famous BBC TV six part series from 1985. Writing now in 2013, this was made 28 years ago ... and it clearly has dated aspects as all programs of this era have. However, several modern techniques can be recognised, and so over the years it has gained the reputation of being a watershed titile, one that marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new.

Above all however, the series is a noted for the powerful performance of Bob Peck. I think anybody who praises this series will have that point at the back of their mind. Let it be said, he is not the only good thing about it .. it's a very high quality programme, many of the other characters are exceptionally well played, but Bob Peck's enactment of the story's main character is nothing short of mesmeric.

The storyline is somewhat problematic, as it straddles several categories: personal tragedy, thriller, detective story and even contemporary documentary, so much so that there was probably only ever one actor able to represent it, and the production got this actor in the shape of Bob Peck.

Capote(2005)

I was disappointed with this film. Don't get me wrong, it's superbly filmed and the period atmosphere was excellently captured. But it was too well-done.

When you look at a film like this you realise why we have the current lo-fi craze now in the early two-ten's. Everything is just far too clean and well kept. And this includes two criminals, esepcially Perry Smith who only shows balanced consideration of things with zero psychosis, which is just impossible.

It's possible to enjoy this film only if you havn't read "In Cold Blood", but it wouldn't be by much.

Philip Seymour-Hoffman won an Oscar for his rle as Truman Capote. Great. Well, let me say that it's categorically overacted, and that Capote comes across a real tosser. It's inbelieveable that he could have been that good a writer with that so affected personality.

Thumbs down.