Sunday, August 20, 2006

BlackJack Comes Up A Winner!

I've watched the last two BlackJack telemovies these past two Sunday nights, and I must say I was very impressed. Where was I when the previous three BlackJack telemovies were aired?! How did I miss them?

Actually, I have a faint memory of them (or some of them, anyway) being advertised, but they didn't catch my attention/interest and for that I am truly regretful.

THESE TELEMOVIES ARE EXCELLENT.

It came as no surprise (but quite a lot of interest) to note in the credits that the series was created by Shaun Micallef and Gary McCaffrie. Brilliant.

Starring Colin Friels, Marta Dusseldorp and David Field, BlackJack's backstory is basically that Jack Kempson (Friels) is a Sydney cop who "ratted out" some dirty cops for corruption. After he does this, he is considered poison in the workplace, and no one will help him (and those who do are warned not to). His boss, Inspector Kavanagh (Field) is especially bitter and vindictive towards Kempson, relegating him to the basement and putting him in charge of "entering cold cases onto the computer" (computer skills being something everyone knows Kempson doesn't have). However, in so doing, Kempsey uncovers various unsolved crimes that he's able to look into (officially-unofficially), and despite the best efforts of Kavanagh to undermine Kempson and take all the credit for any successful cases closed, Kempson seems to take it all in his stride and get the job done.

As far as I can tell, that's an accurate assessment of the backstory I missed. He is assisted in all but the original telemovie by new recruit Sam Lawson (Dusseldorp), who takes a shine to Kempson and even tries to help him get his head around computers. Each telemovie features a different supporting cast of impressive Australian actors, a new crime or two to be solved, further developments in Kempson's troubled career, ongoing character storylines regarding Kempson and Lawson's personal lives, and inevitably a different haircut for Friels.




Last Sunday night, I saw BlackJack IV: Ace Point Game, which guest starred Craig McLachlan, Sasha Horler, John Brumpton and Gigi Edgley. Tonight it was BlackJack V: Dead Memory, which guest starred Garry MacDonald, Erik Thomson, Sophie Lee and Daniel MacPherson. I'm quite annoyed with myself that I missed BlackJack I, II and III, but thankfully IMDB tells me that BlackJack VI and VII are still on their way. I hope there are even more after that.

With last week's Ace Point Game, it was my first foray into the world of BlackJack - and I'm not even sure what made me watch it. I saw the start and thought it looked well done, so I just kept watching. Before long, I was hooked.

True, I've always liked Colin Friels (I was a big fan of Water Rats from when it started in 1996 to when his character left the series in 1999 - and pretty much stopped watching altogether after that ... which is rare behaviour for someone like me who generally sticks with a show long-term, regardless of any changing cast members), so I think it was the appeal of Mr Friels that got me in in the first place. And it was equal parts him and the dual storyline (the crime and his challenging personal/professional life) that kept me in there.

Even though I was able to predict 'the big twist' from the get-go, that didn't serve to lessen my enjoyment of the whole experience. I found it excellently put together, ingeniuously filmed and edited, and superbly acted by all.

As for tonight's telemovie, Dead Memory, the high standards from last week were still present, and this time I was unable to guess the ending. Which made it even more challenging, but by no means less enjoyable.

My favourite moments in Dead Memory included Inspector Kavanagh yelling at Kempson to stay away:


Kavanagh: [Really yelling angrily and heatedly, almost spitting in fury and looking like he's going to burst a blood vessell; staring right into Kempson's face at close range] YOU STAY OUT OF MY [BEEP]ING CRIME SCENE, OKAY, KEMPSON? GOT IT?

Kempson: [Casually, thoughtfully, mock-reflectively] Yeah, ... yeah, I think that's pretty clear ...


(Maybe you've gotta be able to hear the dialogue being delivered by the characters themselves. It was gold.)

Another funny recurring moment was when Kempson was in a small convenience store in Sydney and then later when he returned a few times to complain about the food he'd bought there. On his first visit, he asked the storekeeper what kind of name 'Terv' was (reading from the man's badge), to which the guy replied wearily that it was a typo (it should have read 'Trev'). However, in all conversations with the man thereafter, Kempson casually calls him 'Terv' without drawing special attention to it in any way ... and it makes it all very funny and had me chuckling for a long, long time.

I think what appeals to me most about both of these examples is Colin Friels' deadpan and perfectly understated delivery. He's a truly exceptional actor, and I'm yet to hear anyone really lay into him or his work.

I also think Marta Dusseldorp is a relatively excellent surprise package. I don't mean to belittle her, here - I'm sure she must have done lots of brilliant acting work in her past to have landed the gig in the first place, but let's face it: She's not exactly a household name yet. However, I think she has the potential to be an absolute star. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she's a knock-out, but putting her looks aside for the moment, the strength of the acting she exhibited, particularly in tonight's Dead Memory telemovie (which focussed on a missing friend of her character's from four years previously), really highlighted her magnificent ability. I was highly impressed and really felt she was experiencing the pain she was showing us (especially the scene in the national park where she helps Jack dig in the dirt with sticks).

As for the performances from the guest stars, I was noticeably impressed with Craig McLachlan, Garry MacDonald and John Brumpton in particular, but that's not to say Daniel MacPherson, Gigi Edgley, Sasha Horler, Erik Thomson, Sophie Lee and the other outstanding cast members of both telemovies didn't also do a fantastic job. Because they did. The casting and direction here were just as incredible as the writing and acting.

The final point I want to make is no small point at all. What a winner this series is for quality Australian-made drama. Yes, it's a joint production with the BBC, but for the most part, it's Aussie drama that the BBC helped finance and will air over there. That's only good news for Australian-made drama as well. An international audience. And it's good stuff. We're not showing the world some second-rate crap that will only serve to embarrass us. True, the formula may not be original (and the "angry boss trying to undercut the hero's best efforts at being a good guy and yet he still manages to come out on top" theme may have been done to death), but I really don't think that detracts from the viewing pleasure at all. Put simply: BlackJack rocks.

If anyone knows where I might be able to get my hands on the first three BlackJack telemovies, please let me know. If they ever get replayed on TV, I'll certainly be tuning in.


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2 Comments:

At Tuesday, September 05, 2006 10:31:00 PM, Blogger magical_m said...

The director of that last Blackjack was the genius I did a screen workshop with a few months back.

At least FOUR people from our workshop were cast in minor roles and another was playing the dead girl.

I was not one of those people.

Pissed off. Much.

But it was a top show. Marta is such a brilliant actress. And Colin Friels could stand in front of camera and read the phone book and I would find him fascinating.

 
At Wednesday, September 06, 2006 2:43:00 AM, Blogger BEVIS said...

Dxxxx, no I didn't - whoa! I wonder who he played ... Glad to know I'm not the only one enjoying these telemovies. They don't seem to have made much of a splash in the general population, so in an effort to get them renewed for more telemovies, I'm doing my bit. :)

Magical_M, wow, really? So you're, like, almost famous! (I never saw you in the Red Cross ad so I deny that you were even in it.) That's pretty cool, though. Was it Peter Andrikidis? I noticed his name was down for the director of both BlackJack telemovies I saw (I notice things like that in opening credit sequences, you see), so I thought he was directing them all, but when I was looking up all the IMBD links for this post, I saw that some of the others were directed by other people. So why'd you get overlooked for a featured role? I reckon you'd have made an excellent rotting corpse! (This is sounding mean now, which was not my intention. Sorry.) I like your 'phone book' example. I'd book a ticket to see Friels performing the A-K any day! (But not the L-Z if I hadn't seen the first one ... I don't want to be confused because I've missed half the plot!)

 

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