The Milk River Madman selected Favourite TV Show Made Into A Movie for this week’s theme on Movie Clip Wednesday.
Obviously, I could have gone with Star Trek or Sex and the City or even The Six Wives of Henry VIII here but I thought I’d introduce you all to something a little less predictable.
I’m not sure it was the best or even my favourite, but I really enjoyed both the UK series and the Hollywood revamp of ‘State of Play’, two stories that intertwine the role and power of investigative journalism with the sleaze of politics.
In the BBC original series, Bill Nighy was just brilliantly sleazy as the Editor of the newspaper and there were other excellent turns from Philip Glenister – in what is obviously a warm-up for his starring role as Gene Hunt – John Simm, David Morrissey and Kelly MacDonald.
The first clip is just priceless – Bill Nighy manages to inject and convey so many emotions in just a derisive snort.
The film version starred two of my acting heroes, Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe. It was great because it was not just a retelling of the same story, there were twists and turns here that allowed those who had seen the original to be able to watch without knowing the ending. Helen is a totally different editor to the character portrayed by Bill Nighy in the series, but is none the less watchable for that.
Great stuff :)
Thanx Joanna I have not seen either of these but given your review will keep an eye out for both of them…
Ruf and I both agreed that Ben Affleck was actually very good in this movie :) Not something either of us would have believed before!
I've always believed English televsion was superior to the US and it's been proved over and over again by the number of shows we pinch (All in the Family, The Office) so your shows would easily make good movies. I've never the movie, but now I think I'd like to. Good pick and happy MCW!
You can probably get the dvd of the BBC series from Amazon – it was a really good watch.
It's amazing isnt it how they take our shows and remake them. It's such a shame that Coupling was never as successful in the Americanised version as it was over here – that was a great show, a sort of ruder friends :)
Loved them!! I've never seen the series but it looks great. I have to toss a coin before I see any movie with Ben Affleck but do like Russle Crow. Thanks for playing and Happy MCW!!
You surprised me by not being predictable. I've not seen either the movie or the series. I'm not sure if the series is available on TV here, but I liked the dialogue – especially in the first clip.
Happy MCW!