The Night Manager

When you walk into a hotel as a woman, Tom Hiddleston is the concierge there. Ladies you can do worse. You could have met Mister, I'm just saying. Tom Hiddleston (Thor) plays veteran Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager. Pine infiltrates the world of arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie, House). Of course there is a tragic precursor to that, but you need a good plot device anyway. We meet Jonathan Pine in Cairo. He works there during a very explosive period. The Arab Spring is about to begin and all eyes are on Egypt. Then Jonathan meets the beautiful Sophie Alekan. Ms. Alekan is just the mistress of Freddy Hamid, one of the most notorious men in Egypt. Jonathan becomes concerned with Sophie's fate and the two eventually end up in bed together. Then fate strikes. John's world is turned upside down and by the end of the first episode he is in contact with intelligence services and suddenly finds himself in a dangerous world. Will Jonathan manage to tackle a dangerous arms dealer? The Night Manager is a collaboration between BBC One and AMC. The series premiered February 21, 2016 in Great Britain on BBC One. That means that we can also watch lucky bastards every Sunday. In April the series can be seen on AMC in the United States. The series is based on the book of the same name by John le Carré. If you like series where intrigue and espionage are central, you should definitely visit The Night Manager. Perhaps the cast is enough. Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) aren't nauseating names, of course. They are actors who have all proven that they can carry a film / series. To be honest, the first episode of this series is largely left standing by them. Hiddleston shows the charm and charisma it takes. His character shows no fear and shows that he can deal with stressful situations. Hiddleston conveys this well and that gives confidence for the further course of this series. Hugh Laurie is actually always good. It is no different here. I don't know yet whether I believe this is "the worst man in the world". As a viewer, Laurie's character does not yet bring you to that feeling. To that nod of the head when you realize you're dealing with a 'real one'. Anyway, Laurie doesn't have that much screen time in the first episode yet. So it wouldn't be fair to serve him right away. Olivia Colman is another actor who can't do much wrong. Colman is in good shape, but the character still needs a bit more body to really impress. The Night Manager dives nowhere below the line of solidity. However, the series has more potential than is currently shown. I don't know how faithfully the series follows the book, but I thought it was a bit of a 'been there, done that' given. Man goes through something tragic, decides to turn his life around and takes action against injustice / dangerous people. Intelligence agencies have started hunting for a dangerous man, and so on. It can be an interesting fact, but the implementation does not make me very enthusiastic yet. You will hear Mister say more often that a series does not have to reinvent the wheel, but a known fact does need a fresh interpretation. Otherwise it will be difficult to spend too long in familiar territory. The story itself is nice, but not (yet) remarkable. But why does Jonathan risk everything here for a lady he just met. You learn that Jonathan is a lifesaver. That it is a man who is not afraid to stick his neck out. However, the first episode does not justify why he does that for Sophie. Why does a Westerner in an Arab country do something that could seriously endanger his life? You could think of many reasons. However, The Night Manager fails to produce a convincing motivation for this. The 'relationship' between Jonathan and Sophie would also have lingered more, if the two had shared more scenes together. The direction is not really strong either. As far as I am concerned, it could have been a bit more subtle now and then. Certain shots were not necessary. The musical accompaniment should have been missing in some places, so that a particular scene would be more powerful. I also had the feeling that I was watching two separate series. The London part (with the intelligence services and Olivia Colman) and the Cairo part didn't really come together yet. It didn't feel really cohesive yet. Only when the series makes a time jump and we see John in a different role, do these two worlds come together more. Still, it's an interesting start to The Night Manager. There is plenty that points to a very interesting series. When Hiddleston and Laurie are finally on the screen together (and Hiddleston and Colman) the series is also immediately more interesting. The other episodes offer enough space for fireworks between these three giants. I'm already getting my microwave popcorn ready for Hiddleston versus Laurie. The world of this series can be an exciting one to maneuver in. One mistake can kill. The wrong look can lead to suspicion. Looking at someone's wife for too long can make ... Anyway, you understand. The ingredients for a smooth bite are there. There should be a little more gravy, salt and pepper here and there. However, I am confident that the continuation of this series will find a higher gear. www.meneervevie.com

So far a very, but also very good series. British quality series, what more could you want? :)