Nicole Kidman, "based on a book", David E. Kelley, rich white people, murder, private school, children involved, multiple timelines and flashbacks – If they knew that they were going to be in the shadow of Big Little Lies, why on earth did they do everything they could to make it so similar? The Undoing, perhaps not justifiably is in the shadow of the juggernaut immediate modern classic of Television that initiated the working relationship between Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley, and whereas Big Little Lies is a series that I have and will return to many more times, the first season anyway, I cannot say the same for this piece. That being said however this latest effort is still thrilling television that grips you and excites you and disturbs you and makes you want to watch the next episode. I for instance watched all 5 hours and 40 minutes of the thing in one sitting. The main problem with the show is an inherent paradox of material and quality; the quality of the acting, writing and directing serves the material very well, but may just make it seem an awful lot better than it actually is, leading to a rush of being underwhelmed when we come to view the piece as a whole. However, not to ruin my surmising, but this is certainly still a show that’s well worth watching.

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This review will contain no spoilers but I will pass my comments on the finale in the P.S, if you wish to know them.

The show follows the downward spiral of the life of a prominent New York therapist who seemingly has the perfect life. This is Grace Fraser, played by Nicole Kidman. Devoted husband, good and loyal friends, adoring father she can depend upon, son in the best private school; you know where this is going. All this is upended by the brutal and horrific murder of a newcomer into the private school circle, a beautiful, young, poor and sexually confident mother named Elena. David E. Kelley adapts this story from Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel You Should Have Known. I don’t actually know if either that or The Undoing are great titles, one is a cryptic oddity and the other is remarkably bland and uninspired. Kelley does what he does best and gives us multiple interesting and dynamic characters that take us through the ever-winding and twisting path of this 6 episode run. Whereas my most common complaint with these sorts of mini-series is that I just wish that they were a two hour film, I didn’t really feel that here. I do still think it would be better as a 2 and a half hour film, but this show does justify its length and I never checked my watch once. The second major factor in this is the direction of Susanna Bier, who can direct a mini-series like nobody’s business (The Night Manager), but can’t direct a film to save her life (Serena and Birdbox). Bier is terrific when servicing the script and characters, but does try to infuse an experimental visual language into the transitions and montage sequences that for the most part work, but sometimes grow distracting, especially when we’re trying to watch dialogue heavy scenes. There’s just a litany of visual flourishes that do nothing to serve the story we are telling, much the same can be said for the scripts from Kelley. The strands just aren’t as tight here as we have come to expect from Kelley’s adaptations, perhaps these are issues from the book, but if they were Kelly did nothing to better them for this show. Many plot points and the like eventually come to nothing, which is something we only learn after we have viewed the whole show, leading to that aftermath sour taste that grows and grows as the viewer spends more time away from the project.

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The reason to watch this show is for the performances. There are other reasons, but they falter at points. The array of excellent talent and their performances never falter. Our cast very rarely hit a line wrong and falter in their emotions, all of them deliver exceptionally well conceived and developed performances of great depth and dimension, and ultimately intrigue and entertainment value. Our supporting cast is filled with standouts, from the subdued power of Ismael Cruz Cordova as the deceased’s husband, to our two detectives, Michael Devine’s similarly subtle turn as Detective Paul O’Rourke, to his polar opposite in the dynamic and vital Detective Joe Mendoza played by Edgar Ramirez. Noah Jupe stars the Fraser child, Henry, who really does do great work with the lesser role that he has been given, fuelling some very interesting scenes later in the series with his slightly obtuse angle and view of the situation. Lily Rabe, Matilda De Angelis and Jeremy Shamos all do further excellent supporting work, bringing life and curiosity to characters that perhaps don’t get there grand scenes to shine. De Angelis, as our deceased Elana, is perhaps the exception to that rule, but still doesn’t get the series of enriching flashbacks that we perhaps expect and that we most likely want.

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When it comes to top shelf players on the field we are dealing with the names; Donald Sutherland, Kidman and Hugh Grant. However an unexpected joy is Noma Dumezweni as Haley Fitzgerald, the wonder lawyer who joins us for the final four episodes. She is sensational and makes every one of her courtroom scenes just as watchable as any of the best in the genre. Sutherland, as Grace’s father, is a complex figure whose true nature continues to reveal itself over the course of the series. A powerful look at a faded man coming to terms with his issues in life. But as repeatedly aforementioned we are in the hands of Kidman and Grant here and the show serves best when it gives them the complete screen time that they both deserve. Kidman also graces us once more with her immaculately delicate singing voice with her opening theme rendition of Dream A Little Dream Of Me, which doesn’t really serve any purpose in bringing us into the world and in many ways feel polar opposite to the tone they then go on to set – however I will never complain when it comes to Kidman singing. Although Kidman is taut, wickedly emotional and powerfully stoic in her turn as Grace Frazer, the real and perhaps unexpected star of the show is Grant as devoted husband Jonathon Fraser. This is frankly the best work I have ever seen Grant do, bar his exceptional comedic work in Paddington 2 (which I say without a lick of irony is one of the great Oscar travesties in recent memory). Grant weaponizes his charm and deconstructs the capability of it. His anger and power is relentless and in more ways than one, this is his Emmy for the taking, and in more ways than one it’s his show. If we remember one thing from the show in the future, it will be Kidman and Grant, but more so Grant. An absolute gem in his career

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A sturdy and well delivered 7/10 show, working more so as a master class showcase for Grant and Kidman more than anything. In that regard, it is certainly some of the best TV of the year, or at least some of the best TV performances. Bier’s direction is thrilling and never lacks pace and zip, further propelled by Kelley’s riveting and always entertaining dialogue and scenes. It’s hard though to pinpoint what makes The Undoing feels so much like an uneven cake, despite all the pieces being there. I refer back to the paradox of material versus quality that I talked off in my intro, perhaps that is where the trouble lies. 

**SPOILER FILLED** P.S. I feel as if I watched the show from the beginning again, knowing that this was not some grand whodunit and was in fact a more character focussed study of these people, then I may enjoy it an awful lot more. However Kelley has framed the whole thing as this grand mystery, which I am told is not the way it is in the book. In the book we understand from the beginning who our murderer is and the novel plays out more so as a moral drama following Grace’s dealing with this knowledge. And in turn a more in-depth look at the psyche of our killer, without us having to avoid giving anything away regarding our climax. I just feel that playing this climax as a twist, or something in that fashion, undermines the wealth of human psychological drama that we could have gotten into. Kelley has made this another mystery piece of TV that leads to climbing viewership as the series continues, as we all try to find out the truth. Look, I didn’t guess it. But I think that’s mainly because of Kelley’s choice to fashion an intense human drama, as a cheap whodunit. This isn’t cheap, but it's probably not as rich as it thinks.

-Thomas Carruthers