the brief: complete collection

Alan Davies is a successful and very visible comedic presence on British television (QI, Bob & Rose), but unless you were lucky enough to catch his mystery series Jonathan Creek when it aired in the U.S. you may have missed out on seeing him.

In The Brief: Complete Collection, Davies is as winning as ever, in a more straight-forward legal series. He plays Henry Farmer, a criminal practice barrister who does his best to champion the innocent. As convoluted as some of his cases become, they are no competition for the entanglements of his personal life.

Henry is divorced and is trying to work on repairing his relationship with his young son. He is involved in an affair with a woman, Polly (Zara Turner), who is married to a closeted politician. He has a disapproving father, who also happens to be a judge. He is trying to climb out from under a mountain of debt, most of it incurred while gambling. He's got a lot on his plate, but Davies' manner, no matter how hard things get inside and out of the courtroom, keeps the series light in tone.

The Brief is from the creators of the popular Inspector Morse series. We follow Henry from court to home to the office, where he works with the tough-as-nails Cleo (Cherie Lunghi), the eccentric Ray (Christopher Fulford), and faithful assistant and ballroom dancer extraordinaire, Maureen (Linda Bassett).

The series ran only two years. The collection includes eight episodes on four discs for a total running time of approximately 9 ½ hrs. The format is widescreen, with an aspect ratio of 16:9. SDH subtitles and scene selection are available. The Brief is unrated, but some of the cases concern subject matter not appropriate for children.

Many faces well-known from other British series, like Kirsty Mitchell (Case Histories, Monarch of the Glen), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey, The Tudors) and Selina Cadell (Doc Martin) appear throughout the series as guest stars.

Series 1 includes four episodes. In "The Road to Hell" Henry tries to get his gambling and alimony debt under control and get his relationship with Polly to move forward while juggling multiple cases. In "So Long, Samantha" a girl's death overseas looks at first to be the result of wild partying, but Henry s convinced that there may be another explanation. Henry switches to the prosecution in "Children," an upsetting case involving a 12-year-old girl who may have murdered another child. He meanwhile is not having much success trying to relate to his son, who is spending the week with him during the trial. The final episode of the first series, "A Sort of Love," involves a twisted love triangle that resulted in murder. Henry and Polly's relationship also takes an unexpected turn.

Series 2 also includes four episodes. In "Blame" we learn that Henry and Polly are over, his finances are in their worse shape yet, and his father is a witness on one of his cases. "Lack of Affect" concerns a man who has been accused of murdering his mother. Henry's personal life also starts to get complicated — again. In "Forever on the Mind" Henry defends a nurse who was made the beneficiary of a patient just two days before he died — he must prove she didn't rush him along.

Davies is one of those actors who is always a welcome presence, whether he is the star of the show, as in The Brief, or just a guest star, as he appeared recently on Lewis, as the magician and crime solver Jonathan Creek, or even as himself, as permanent panelist on the long-running quiz show QI. Hopefully more of his efforts will make their way to DVD so that American audiences can get to know the talented comedian and actor. The Brief is a fun show with engaging characters. It's too bad it only lasted for two series, but at least viewers can enjoy these two seasons.

Related articles

• Theatre Coventry: Comedien Alan Davies returns with his new stand-up (coventrytelegraph.net)

mirror mirror

Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror had a lot of potential to be more fun than it was. A Bollywood-like closing number captured the essence of what the film could have been — fanciful, colorful, silly — a cute update of Snow White. There was just one kink in its armor — Julia Roberts. In what must have seemed a coup at casting time, getting an A-list actress to pull in a big audience, unfortunately ended up being a huge miscasting that threatened to sink the film at every turn of the Queen's voluminous hoop skirts.

Julia Roberts, overwhelmed by costumes and character

Mirror Mirror apparently didn't even need to be made in the first place. According to New York Magazine's Vulture column,

“Relativity's decision not to co-finance Snow White and the Huntsman with Universal and instead make their own film to compete with [them] wasn't a wise decision.” Given the limited-to-youth appeal of the Mirror Mirror trailer when compared with Huntsman’s darker, racier, and visually stunning materials, “people are waiting for that ‘Snow White’ film.”

Snow White and the seven dwarves

It doesn't help Mirror Mirror that ABC's much-watched television series Once Upon A Time, with its Snow White/Evil Queen conflict at its heart, is much more compelling viewing than this Roberts vehicle. Why should folks rush out to see this movie? They shouldn't and didn't. The Hunger Games once again dominated the box office last weekend while Mirror Mirror took 3rd place and $19 million — not much considering its over $85 million budget.

As the film opens, Roberts intones in a strangely accented voiceover, that this story will be about the Queen, rather than Snow White. And therein lies the rub. Roberts has been a welcome presence in rom-coms in the past, but she is definitely a most contemporary actress. When she tries to act in a story that isn't set in the current day the results, like Mary Reilly, are disastrous. Mirror Mirror is a fairy tale, and Roberts is much too far out of her element. She lacks the arch delivery needed to make her Queen truly evil. She's just mean and bitchy and bored, and not much fun to watch, despite the fabulous costuming by the late Eiko Ishioka. What's worse, she knows she is not right for the part and telegraphs her discomfort in a series of lackluster line readings, each word delivered seriously, without a hint of irony or wicked glee. In two scenes she even desperately utilizes her trademark guffaw, but it is out of context and inappropriate.

All the costumes by Eiko Ishioka are exquisite, but the animal headdresses at a ball are especially fanciful

What a different film this could have been if Michelle Pfeiffer had been cast as the Queen. Or Uma Thurman or Meryl Streep or even Kim Cattrall.

But there are a few highlights. Tarsem Singh (The Cell, Immortals) brings his usual visual flair to scenes, playing with scale  and injecting a sense of the fantastical into the proceedings. There is a lovely animated opening sequence, a Beast that lurks in the forest, and some lethal puppets employed by the Queen that all add to the film's imagery. Mirror Mirror's best scenes include Snow (Lily Collins) with the seven dwarves, who are a combination of the usual cutesy personalities with a grittier approach, reminiscent of Time Bandits. Snow and the Prince, played by Armie Hammer (frequently shirtless, one of the other high points of the film), are also great together. Nathan Lane is always fun to watch, and tries to have fun with the banter in his scenes with Roberts, but you can tell he would have been beter paired with someone who could have bantered back. Sean Bean aso makes a brief but extremely welcome appearance as Snow's father, the King.

Sean Bean and Nathan Lane are welcome additions to the cast

I couldn't help thinking of Notting Hill, a film with Roberts that I like, where she plays the ultimate American movie star who falls in love with an English bookshop owner, played by Hugh Grant. During the course of the film there are clips of some of Roberts' fictional blockbusters, including a Joan of Arc-like science fiction space saga, and the filming of a version of a Henry James novel. It's one of the film's in-jokes that she is not really suited for these roles. It's not so funny that her career is now becoming this fiction. At some point Hollywood has got to give up on stunt casting with a big name to rake in a few bucks. If they simply aren't suited for the material it is bound to backfire. Like most everyone else, I'm holding out hope for the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman, which comes out on June 1, and looks like a more interesting twist on the Snow White fairy tale. Charlize Theron will play the Evil Queen, an actress who I have no doubt will not only be able to portray true wickedness, but more importantly, have fun doing so.

must love cats

We love to watch Animal Planet. Right now one of the kid's favorite programs is Must Love Cats, which is a fun and fluffy tour of the U.S. (and occasionally farther afield, like Great Britain or Japan). Each episode has host John Fulton meeting with people and their cats, usually focusing on something slightly wacky or amusing, like a cat that prowls the neighborhood and steals things from neighbor's yards, or some people who like to shave and paint their cat's fur in decorative patterns. Fun, but kinda silly.

Host John Fulton and friends

But the most recent episode, "Kitty Kidney Transplants and the Cat Who Jogs," featured a segment with a team of doctors from Philadelphia who take cats quite seriously. They have a kitty kidney transplant program. Viewers got to see a very needy Siamese cat, Opie, who had had kidney problems most of his nine lives, which were now all almost up — he had been given two months to live. The clinic had a group of kitty kidney donors, cats that they had rescued from nearby shelters, who were being saved from being euthanized by becoming donors. These donors were not only being saved, but would be guaranteed a forever home. The cat being prepped for organ donation for Opie was a cute black cat named Cadbury.

In most cases the grateful cat owners of the donor recipient end up adopting the donor kitty (how could you not?) and that was also the case for Opie and Cadbury. It was quite a touching segment. Love is love, and pets bring a lot to people's lives. It's hard to know how far I would go for a beloved kittie, but Opie's owner had no hesitations to save her cat, who had been on medication and a special diet most of his life. Watching the happy owner with her two new kitties was great, but even greater was watching the two cats together. Opie and Cadbury were inseparable. They seemed to develop an instant bond, as if they intrinsically knew that they shared something very special. I'm growing to love this show as much as my daughter.

countdown to Dinklage

Game of Thrones returns tonight for its second season on HBO. I'm looking forward to watching the whole gang — Jon Snow, Daenerys, Arya — but especally Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister trying to outmaneuver his wicked sister, Queen Cersei, and try his hand at castle intrigue.

More fun stuff to get you in the mood:

New York Times Slide show of Peter Dinklage roles.

The opening theme to Game of Thrones sung by Sansa, Arya and Bran (from the Season One Blu-ray)