The Night Manager

The series falls into a genre that I like, and the name of the original author should have been a guarantee, or at least a prerequisite, for solid entertainment. I should have been excited, but I approached the project with skepticism associated with the name Susanne Bier. I ironically nicknamed her the Rosamunde Pilcher of the festival scenes and consider her to be overrated on the global scale. I can imagine The Night Manager as a spy crime drama with adventurous elements about a mole deployed in an illegal organization. I can also imagine it working great under Kathryn Bigelow or decently directed by Agnieszka Holland, but with Susanne Bier, it's a disaster. The series is neither gripping nor impressive, and it's certainly not convincing. I criticize it for the lack of action and the chattiness of the series. However, I also have a problem with the style, expressive means, and emotions it relies on. Bier directs not a crime story, but a romantic miniseries made by a woman for women, where the main hero seems more like a sexual object than a secret agent. The driving forces behind his actions are love affairs and emotions in general. Seemingly incomprehensible comparisons with James Bond have their justification, even though you would look in vain for action elements in the series. The difference is that the Bond series is sexist, and filmed from the perspective of a dominant alpha male, while The Night Manager is gender-swapped. The focal point is not sex and action, but relationships. Not only the hero's love affairs but also his relationship with the main villain's son, for example. I feel no need to change anything about my rejecting attitude towards Susanne Bier's work, her handling of characters, or her storytelling. Overall impression: 45%. (05/12/2017)

It has not happened to me in a long time that I would devour a miniseries like a bucket of ice cream in one sitting. But it is obvious that the producers knew very well what they were getting into. Actually, they put a Nordic legend with experience in the field into the director’s seat – Susanne Bier, and they offered her top European actors – Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and the up-and-coming Elizabeth Debicki. They wrapped it all into an incredibly attractive story that was lastly introduced probably by Lord of War ten years ago. Well, and if you add the fact that this 6-hour long miniseries is set in turbulent Egypt, in an unnamed residence in Mallorca, or on the southeast border of Turkey, then know that you could not get more attractive locations for filming. To reach perfection I was only missing a more epic finale that was going there, but ultimately the creators cut it too soon with the speed of light. A pity. Anyhow, if nothing else, it has to be clear to everyone after watching who the next James Bond should be. (06/01/2016)

I think an hour and a half movie would have said the same thing, maybe even a little more, and would have been more entertaining. Here, in six hours, the plot just boiled over unnecessarily (but that's the problem I have with most of the series I mysteriously get into) and I had to wonder almost constantly how stupid some of the characters were. (05/07/2017)

A great conversational, spy snack that is a little slow at the beginning, but towards the ending it makes up for that, with each atmosphere enhancing minute. Laurie’s role as the arms dealer fits him like a glove. The photos with African kids almost make him a humanist. And Hiddleston was a little shaky at first, but towards the end he proves his qualities. I think I could imagine him as a Bond. The last two parts are perfection itself. A fairly unexpected finale for le Carré. (05/23/2016)

I only started watching this series because Hugh Laurie was in it. Otherwise, I had no idea what I was getting into. I was entertained from the start by this spy game full of intrigue and understandable paranoia, although I found some moments quite naive and was massively disappointed by the ending. I expected it to be more realistic and less fairy-tale-like. Overall, I was satisfied anyway, I liked how the creators managed to gradually escalate the tension. (06/27/2017)