AMC’s new crime drama miniseries, The Night Manager, is a slow, steady, intense burn. Tom Hiddleston stars as Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who is the night manager at a fancy hotel. He is contacted by a British intelligence officer (Olivia Colman) to become a spy and get into the inside circle of a shady yet powerful British businessman, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). The miniseries is based upon John le Carré’s novel, and it is definitely a show you should be watching. Here’s why:
- Jonathan Pine is like James Bond–only more human. Pine (aka Tom Hiddleston) oozes cool. He is dashing, fit, and intelligent. Like Bond, he can easily get women. Unlike Bond, he stays on the outskirts, quietly observing everything and everyone. Pine is haunted by something Roper did (watch it to find out!) which is what propels him to help bring him down (so Pine is also super noble!).
- The beautiful scenery. The luxurious home of Richard Roper on the coast of Mallorjca is drool-worthy. The lavish dinner parties on the sea are enviable. Even the small British village where Pine stays for bit to cement his backstory is quaint and pretty. Basically, The Night Manager looks gorgeous.
- The cast is stellar. Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman (as Angela Burr, the dedicated British agent that recruits Pine), Tom Hollander (the suspicious right-hand man to Roper’s, Corkoran), and Tom Hiddleston all lead the accomplished cast. I was also surprised and delighted to see Tobias Menzies (hailing from the worlds of Game of Thrones and Outlander) appear…most likely as a not-so-good guy, but we will find out as the show unfolds.
- Performances are finely tuned and detailed. The director, Susanne Bier, uses a lot of close-up shots throughout the show. During a New York Times talk before the show premiered, Hiddleston said that there were so many close-up shots because a lot of the novel was what each character and the audience knew that other characters did not; that is easy enough to do in a book, but a bit harder to do on film. Bier brilliantly uses the close-ups as a way for the audience to get inside the characters’s heads without the characters having to say anything out loud–a credit to all of their great acting abilities.
Catch up on the first three episodes on AMC’s website, and then catch the rest on Tuesdays at 10/9c (through May 24).
Photo Credits: Des Willie/The Ink Factory/AMC
TaranehTaraneh has been happily living in NYC for over a decade, but originally hails from the Midwest. Enamored with books at a young age, she grew up making stories, playing make believe, and loving the musical and performing arts. She is great at binge-watching TV shows. Some current favorites: Schitt's Creek, A Court of Mist & Fury, Prince Harry, and The Magicians.
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