The Night Manager [Blu-ray] [2016] [Region Free]

The Night Manager is the BBC adaptation of John le Carre's epic  1993 thriller . It is a 6 part TV series with the run-time of most of the episodes clocking in over 50 minutes each. It is a terrific adaptation with mesmerising acting, and beautiful locations. There is not much in the way of special features on the DVD. The episodes themselves though are great.The plot of The Night Manager is relatively simple but it is the characterisation that makes it shine so brightly. It is though absolutely gripping all the time even though things do play out much as to be expected. Right from the start it is a fascinating adventure though and the surrounds are so glamorous.It helps that the start of the series sees Tom Hiddlestone's character Jonathan Pine come across a dazzling damsel in distress in the form of Sophie Alekan played by Aure Atika. The moral fortitude of Jonathan Pine makes him susceptible to attractive women who need help even if he does not always have the tools to fix their problems. It is a completely believable performance by Hiddleston who looks great even if he is a bit on the skinny side.Hiddleston's good looks and charming smile make him an excellent hotel manager. That persona suits him well so it is impressive to see Hiddleston take on other aspects of the role Pine plays including as a thug in Dorset and then as covert operative in what is clearly a ruthless organisation.The main foil for Hiddleston is bad guy Richard Roper. There is never any sense that Roper is anything other than a villain even if there is something so damn likeable about Hugh Laurie. It is great to see Laurie taking on this kind of role, his natural timing and the comfort with which he discusses arms deals and killings is eerie. It is a fine performance from Laurie and shows such an incredible emotional range. It is often just a look which indicates what he is thinking about a situation.Despite the great performances from Hiddleston and Laurie, it is Tom Hollander who frequently steals the show. His character Corky is absolutely hilarious. The wit drips out of Hollander with such cutting venom it is laugh out loud funny. Hollander says such horrible things and his character is an utter jerk but he is so very funny. The scene in which he disgraces himself in the restaurant is perhaps the most memorable of the entire show.Roper's partner Jed is the main damsel in distress. The tension between her and Pine is pretty overt and given the way Pine reacted to Sophie Alekan, it is entirely in character for him to have sympathy for Jed. Played by Elizabeth Debicki she is believable as a tart with a heart. Debicki does not have the amazing beauty someone as rich and malevolent as Roper might in real-life have aimed for but her long, thin physique and sense of sadness make her seem somewhat broken and so a credible girl in a horrible man's world.The other main character is Angela Burr played by Olivia Colman. The character is quite a departure from the Burr character in the book. Nevertheless it is a fun performance by Burr with plenty of fast-paced, straight talking lines. Her world is the internal politics of London bureaucracy rather than the glamour of the places Roper's world opens up. Indeed, Burr's office is drab and her interactions at the Foreign Office show off the clearly faded glamour to be found in many parts of King Charles Street.The external locations are beautiful. The huge villa in Mallorca is absolutely stunning. A superb villain's hideaway. Equally the scenes set in Zermat and those filmed in Marrakesh for Cairo are exotic and luxurious. The location team for this production has produced an absolute gem.There is a sequence set on the Syrian border with absolutely fabulous visual effects. How such an explosive sequence was filmed would have made a great aspect for the extras to focus on. It is a long and impressive sequence.The extras are unfortunately disappointing. It is just a 4-5 minute talking head sequence with many of the main actors and director/producers. There is no insight at all and it is just a bunch of people telling each other how great they were to work with. Indulgent luvvie nonsense unfortunately when this huge hit deserved much better.The Night Manager is a huge hit because it is outstanding acting delivering amazing characters. The unfolding of the plot seen through the eyes of fascinating people is so gripping. A truly excellent BBC production.

This is a great piece of drama which keeps you guessing right to the very end and it is very much in the le Carre style: there are often more questions than answers and even the final scene leaves you wondering if that was the whole story. Four stars because there were some glaring slip-ups: the sudden lack of headphones at the weapons demo which reappear, the suddenly dry trousers, the blue linen shirt, Angela kept the gun, amongst others.I also felt it was a bit rushed in the final episode, let's get to the finale as quickly as possible, there wasn't the careful deliberation, the slow build-up of suspense. It's hard to accept that Roper is not aware of Pine and Jed but clever enough to know his safe has been opened? Why would Roper use a hotel bedroom safe? For a set-up he would have used a fake document, he was brilliant with the trucks switch, why be so careless now?Hugh Laurie is Roper, he plays the character so well and the story shows that he is ageing, he's no longer quite as sharp, quite as certain in decision making. Tom Hiddleston is very very good as the multi-personality which is Jonathan Pine. He says of his job it rather chose me and so you have an idea that he's unable to sleep at night, that he needs to be doing boring, repetitive actions, that he needs another persona to keep the demons at bay. He's a man who has suffered greatly and this is how he deals with the grief and the feeling of being powerless against the evil in the world around him. He can do danger because he doesn't care any longer about living, he's existing in a twilight world and maybe after this job he will learn to love life again and to be alive himself.Olivia Coleman does a good job with the character of Burr, Elizabeth Debicki adds glamour as Jed and the supporting cast play their roles with real panache as we become more involved in the world that is Roper and Pine.The book is well worth a read of course and gives more insight into the murky world these guys live in and into the psychology of the spy/intelligence/espionage world. At the end of the day no one is perfect and they all make mistakes/get careless. The ending was good, the story is finished, circles are complete but was it really the 100% whole story? We'll probably never know!DVD extras are interviews with cast and crew and Le Carre. Quite interesting but not very well presented.