'FIVE DAYS' IS ABOUT FOUR TOO LONG.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE >TV CRITIC From its title on, everything about "Five Days" feels drab and uninspired. HBO's miniseries is a crime procedural that delves deeply into the lives of those affected by a missing-persons case that becomes tabloid fodder -- from the victims' family to the investigators and even those on the periphery of the drama. Each of the five episodes focuses on one day of the investigation, which itself lasts 79 days. So we can be grateful it's not titled "79 Days," since not a whole lot of interest seems to occur between days 33 and 79. What occurs on the days screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes does choose to examine isn't always all that compelling either. It begins when Leanne Wellings (Christine Tremarco) takes her kids from their London suburb to visit their grandfather and stops for flowers along the way. She disappears at the flower stand, and her children -- searching for her -- disappear soon thereafter, though the son is soon located by Sarah (Sarah Smart Sarah Smart (born on 3 March 1977 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England) is an English actress. Her career started as a child, notably in the television series Woof! ), a casual passer-by who soon curiously insinuates herself with the missing woman's family, particularly husband Matt (David Oyelowo David Oyelowo (born 1 April 1976 in Oxford) is an English actor of Nigerian descent. He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo and they have one son. Education Oyelowo first went to drama classes since he fancied a girl who was also going. ). The police, led by Barclay (Hugh Bonneville) and Foster (Janet McTeer Janet McTeer (born May 8, 1961) is an award-winning British actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts Janet McTeer began her successful theatrical career with the Royal Exchange Theatre. , in one of the series' liveliest performances), chase down the usual array of clues and red herrings Red Herring A preliminary registration statement that must be filed with the SEC describing a new issue of stock (IPO) and the prospects of the issuing company. Notes: . Much time is devoted, to no particularly interesting ends, to the press officer's (Michelle Bonnard Michelle Bonnard is a British actress. Credits
As the series progresses, reporters are soon bored with the story (there are new scandals to pursue) and you may agree with them. A particularly insipid touch has the discovery of a body just as Matt and Sarah hook up. Hence, "Five Days" becomes a sort of soap-opera procedural -- a tony, intelligent and languidly lan·guid adj. 1. Lacking energy or vitality; weak: a languid wave of the hand. 2. Showing little or no spirit or animation; listless: a languid mood. paced soap, but still a soap. At one point, a character muses (lots of characters do lots of musing here), "All we do is wait -- wait while life goes by without us." Viewers will know the feeling. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com www.insidesocal.com/tv FIVE DAYS - Two and one half stars >What: Procedural miniseries examining a missing-persons case. >Where: HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy . >When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Oct. 30. Part one also airs 9 p.m. Wednesday, 5 p.m. Saturday, 9:30 p.m. Oct. 8 and 7 p.m. Oct. 9, plus other times on multiple HBO platforms. >In a nutshell: Some good performances but overall pretty prosaic. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Hugh Bonneville leads the investigation into the disappearance of a woman and her child in HBO's miniseries "Five Days." |
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