Underbelly Has Soft Centre

Great Story: Bad Script. 

"Both of them had killed to protect their empire. And they would kill again" 

So predicts the solemn, nameless narrator of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities at the end of episode 1. (see, clever - they pinched the title from Dickens, right?)... great, so is this ominous prediction there to create tension or just state the glaring obvious? 

I felt like screaming out "He's behind you!!" and cueing in some organ music... it amounts to televisual pantomime. 

Just one example of seamless corner-cutting in a series which should by all rights be intriguing, terrifying and thought provoking television. It should shock us with the violence and moments later have us laughing along or agreeing with the main protagonist. Instead, they say 'fuck' a lot and there are boobs. 

Not a single laugh in the whole opening two-hours. Sure, characters might say something that's meant to be funny, or possibly even clever. But this isn't a stand-up routine. Successful Comedy comes from action describing the irony of a character's world-view, not clever witticisms by people who are unlikeable thugs. Almost every character is clueless as to their faults - so there should be ample opportunity for poking fun at them as they go about their gruesome business. But it's taken so seriously at every turn we're left with no relent from the stylised-true-crime-melodrama and all-too-hip editing. 

Any serious drama needs moments of relief, of lightness to give the audience a bit of breathing space. This also creates a certain moral ambiguity about our protagonist - as when laughter comes into play, we know not whether to hate them, pity them, like them or love them. Witness Deadwood, Six Feet Under or The Wire as fine exhibits of bleakness superbly counterpointed by character driven comedy. The funniest thing I saw here was a lurid plastic couch being hauled off in the background of a scene... (it's set in the 70's after all). 

As a result there's no reason for us to like these people - I don't know what they are trying to achieve, other than self-aggrandisement and unfathomable riches - therefore there is no tension - no reason for me to want them to succeed in their schemes, no real danger other than they may or may not die, and if so, I have no real reason to care. In other words, there's nothing at stake. Which is a shame because the actors are working their collective tails to the bone, but it's like trying to create empathy with a teflon frying pan.  Fine product, but it doesn't stick.

Lazy, colour-by-numbers, oversimplified telling of what is a vicious, complex and above all important chapter in Australian history.   (5/10)

Obamanation!

it's on!   Like many others, I'm well stoked to see someone with a bit of vision in the hot seat. 

Not before time. It's pretty freakin' dire out there.  But hope will out, as they say.  I like that he's already making steps toward sustainable industry.  I like that he's none too fussed about the awkward formalities of being President.  I like that he's already breaking racial sterotypes down by proving at his inauguration, once and for everyone that not all black guys are awesome dancers.

But most importantly, I like that he's getting his elbows into it already.  So many people have been lobbying change for so many years and being ignored.  And maybe things got so bad that finally people started to catch on...  Who knows?  The important thing is that he's there now, doing whatever he has to so the job gets done.

Good on you USA for taking a chance on the politics of transformation.  

Meanwhile in Davos...