Broadchurch is Better

NerdyNinja49

Gracepoint doesn't quite work for me. I was stunned by Broadchurch when I first watched it. Even though Gracepoint has almost exactly the same script, it lacks all of the magic that makes its British counterpart so good.

One of the things I noticed immediately is the show has that typical crime drama mood and lighting. Part of the reason I like Broadchurch so much is the beautiful lighting and cinematography that casts a stark contrast to the story line. It is evident in the setting alone how catastrophic of an event this is for the town. Gracepoint doesn't do that, which is disappointing.

The show also lacks the little bits of humor that many of the British actors (Olivia Colman and Jonathan Bailey especially) brought to the show. Yes, it's a very serious show, but those tiny moments of humor were what allowed me to fall in love with their characters so quickly. I never really felt attached to the characters in Gracepoint. I think this is partly due to the fact that the acting just isn't as good. To be fair, Broadchurch pulled in some of the best actors in Great Britain and it is hard to match that.

On a more personal level, it took me a while to get used to David Tennant's American accent. It's not bad (although he certainly doesn't rival Hugh Laurie's abilities); it is just distracting with how used I am to his Scottish (or British) drawl. Even so, I was glad they brought him in for the role. Tennant somehow manages to make Carver feel like a very different character, even with such a similar script, and that was fascinating to watch. He didn't show the same emotional underbelly as Hardy, however, and it took away from the character's likability (which does take a while to build in the original series). Even Tennant's character feels like a flattened version of his Broadchurch double.

Overall, I'd say it is a decent series. It isn't any worse than many other crime dramas you can watch on television here in the United States, it just doesn't live up to its fantastic source material.

score 2/10

NerdyNinja49 9 August 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3522148/