genre: espionage, crime, drama
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For as long as I can remember, there has been a lot of hype around The Night Manager, especially because of Tom Hiddleston and the show being the closest thing to James Bond, according to the fans. Except, it's not.
James Bond is fun. While The Night Manager has a few enjoyable moments, I wouldn't call it fun. It takes itself far too seriously. And yes, maybe one could argue that the plot is as convenient as the plots in many James Bond films. Then again, you are very willing to overlook the plot since James Bond is fun. The Night Manager isn't. Before I become a broken record and repeat myself ad nauseam. I do think the acting overall is very good. Probably the main reason why anyone would stick around.
To be fair, we liked the first episode and decided to keep watching. The series went downhill from there. It's not that we disliked the plot entirely. But we just couldn't stomach the forced romance bits. Right from the start, we knew that Hiddleston would have a hard-on for any woman in the series. That is basically why he gets involved with the attempt to stop Richard Roper, played by Hugh Laurie. And it's boring. Immensely boring! At least, in a James Bond film, Bond would sleep with a woman and then kill her if she turned out to be an enemy spy. He is cold-blooded that way. Jonathan Pine is the opposite. The woman goes before the mission. So he will do whatever it takes to protect the woman he sleeps with, even when technically, he is the one who got her in trouble in the first place.
I appreciate the works of John le Carré. But I can't believe he is responsible for writing this drivel. What should have been the most interesting, which are the parts concerning the British government, are not nearly as intriguing or exciting as they should be. In the series, this involvement is seen as an obstacle and not the main goal. I mean, if you ask me, Richard Roper is basically peanuts and can be replaced by anyone, if you think about it. To me, corruption of this magnitude will always be more disturbing than a simple arms deal broker who just wants to make money. I keep reading how people think that Richard Roper is a scary villain. I kept waiting and waiting for him to be scary, and only got it by a monologue from Angela Burr (Olivia Coleman). But is he actually menacing and dangerous? If you think that, then you really haven't seen much. He is actually a very predictable villain. And therefore quite boring!
So yes, I am very confused about the praise this series is getting. I was expecting so much more, but only got a stripped-down Bond without the fun. I would rather watch Die Another Day ten times over before I watch this again. Let alone the second season. In the trailer, they show a scene where Dua Lipa, Hiddleston, and the villain of the week are dancing together, exotically, implying that Jonathan Pine apparently is bisexual. Are you kidding me? That is the kind of thing you find in those trash romance novels, which are overly erotic and explicit. I mean, nothing wrong with those, they can be fun. But this series is supposed to be dealing with espionage and corruption, who cares about the romance and sex parts?
Overall, I would skip this. I do feel like I wasted my time!
