#ash tandon

[camyfilms]

BODYGUARD 2018

The thing is, David/Dave, I don't need you to vote for me, only to protect me.

[moviemosaics]

The Phantom of the Open

directed by Craig Roberts, 2021

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Bodyguard - an exercise in ridiculous amounts of tension building

So I was a few years late to the party when it comes to Bodyguard. I remember the show was a rage 2-3 years ago and it drew a lot of acclaim, particularly for Madden, who I knew from GoT. Just from the gist of it, it definitely felt like something I would like but somehow I always kept forgetting about it. But now I've finally caught up with it and finished it last night on Netflix. And as I mentioned in the title of this post, this show is a glorious exercise in ridiculous amounts of tension building.

The thing that struck me about the show is how I felt absolutely exhausted while watching the show. Most shows ebb and flow. They usually have episodes where you can breathe before they kick into high gear. Bodyguard is not one of those shows. Every single episode is incredibly intense, be it emotionally or due to the action and suspense. There is literally no letup. So much so that even during the happy ending of the Budd family driving off, I was still gripping my knuckles, half expecting for the car to explode. Thankfully that didn't happen. That is a rare experience. And for a thriller, that is about the best praise I can give. It delivers on the thrills.

The narrative is a fascinating web of political intrigue, terrorism, espionage, and organized crime. All covering a base story about a man who is suffering from PTSD and is not doing anything about it and his personal life is suffering as a result. The show gives us a lot of characters. And as a result, the story goes a lot of different directions, but its impressive how well interlinked it all is. There are also some bold narrative choices, chief among them is the decision to kill the female lead midway through the series. Julia Montague was a fascinating character that we neither love nor hate but she constantly interesting and she's essentially co-lead with Madden in the first three episodes. The decision to kill her off could have upset the balance of the show but its pulled off marvelously because her presence looms over the remainder of the show so it doesn't even feel like she's completely gone. There are so many characters that the show very effectively picks up the slack. I will say the first half the season is more political thriller while the second half of the season moves into espionage and investigative thriller and both parts fit together seamlessly.

In terms of performances, Richard Madden is outstanding. He was really good in GoT but here he just holds the screen at every moment. You feel like he's not getting a moment's relief either. You immediately form an attachment to him from the first scene on the train where he's desperately trying to save lives. Yet, he's also deeply frustrating because you can see he's not quite right and his refusal to get help also helps you empathize with his wife and why she is distancing her self. Sophie Rundle as Vicky is very effective. At first you genuinely feel she's being a little unfair on David but as you go further along, you see that she had valid reasons to be frustrated with David. And then she comes through for David in a big way in the finale. As I mentioned above, Julia Montague is an incredibly compelling character and Keeley Hawes gets a lot of credit for creating that morally grey character who is consistently compelling. The acting across the board is excellent but a few who stand out are Nina Toussaint-White and Ash Tandon as the two investigators who work with David after Julia's death, and Gina McKee as the head of the counter terrorism command. Special mention to Anjli Mohindra as Nadia, who is excellent on the show and her character's turn in the finale is superbly acted.

All in all, the show is a treat for those who love the thriller genre. It honestly delivers everything you want in the genre. If I have a minor complaint, it is that the organized crime angle comes very late on the show and ends up being the key angle. But other than that, its a superb show and worth watching. A 9/10.

[favoritou]

SEGURANÇA EM JOGO / BODYGUARD🎬

SINOPSE: David Budd é um veterano de guerra que agora trabalha para o Serviço de Polícia Metropolitano de Londres. Quando ele é designado para ser o guarda-costas da secretária do Ministério de Administração Interna do Reino Unido, cuja política representa tudo o que despreza, Budd se vê dividido entre seu dever e suas crenças. A minissérie com apenas 6 (seis) episódios, de aproximadamente uma hora de duração cada, foi lançada em 2018 e se tornou um dos grandes sucessos do catálogo da Netflix.

Digo sem medo que é uma das melhores séries do Catálogo!

Segurança em Jogo conta a história de David Budd, um veterano de guerra. Ele é interpretado por Richard Madden, o Robb Stark de Game of Thrones. Atualmente ele está em Eterno, novo filme do Marvel Studios.

Madden está excelente, atuando de maneira impecável ao dar vida a um personagem tão complexo.

A atriz Keeley Hawes interpreta Julia Montague, uma poderosa, competente e ambiciosa secretária de Estado.

Não conhecia o trabalho da atriz e me encantei. Ela é maravilhosa!

Temos ainda Sophie Rundle (Ada Shelby em Peaky Blinders), interpretando Vicky, espos de David Budd.

Gina Mckee interpreta a comandante Anne Sampson, chefe do Comando Antiterrorista da Polícia Metropolitana.

Shubham Saraf (Criminal - França) como Tahir Mahmood, assessor de relações públicas. Acho esse ator excelente!

Nina Toussaint-White como a Detetive Sargento Louise Rayburn.

Ash Tandon como Detetive Chefe Deepak Sharma. Também gostei bastante da atuação dele.

Uma trama instigante, envolvente e frenética!

O foco da série é mostrar os bastidores sombrios da política e faz com maestria, entregando um excelente roteiro e uma série bem produzida, sem pontas soltas e que te prende do inicio ao fim!

Me surpreendi positivamente com a série e acho que ela merece total reconhecimento!

Curiosidades:

✨A produção recebeu ótimas criticas acumulando 88 pontos no Metacritic.

✨Os números de visualização da série foram altos, com 10,4 milhões de pessoas assistindo o episódio final ao vivo.

✨ Simon Heath, um dos produtores do seriado garantiu que a segunda temporada deve acontecer em algum momento.

[scenesandscreens]

Bodyguard, Season One (2018)

Directed by Thomas Vincent & John Strickland

Cinematography by John Lee

[sweetcritique]

Season Review: The Bodyguard

I was interested in the show for Richard Madden, not going to lie about it.  The show really amped up the suspense and drama, I wasn't expecting the first episode to pack such a punch.  I thought they would work their way up to the tense scenes.  But the whole series is very tense, many twists and turns.  It's partly intriguing and partly frustrating, but so very intense.

David is a vet dealing with post traumatic stress but pushing forward to continue to be a service of the people and has a job in personal security.   The plot centers around terrorism and politics.

David, the title character is suffering from PTSD and resistant to professional help.  I'm going to assume some of his decisions are coming from a place of imbalance (like sleeping with the Home Secretary and his handling of his conversations with this estranged wife and all the secrecy/paranoia - although it turns out he was right to be paranoid.)

Counter-terrorism is not an easy task as there are so many moving parts - and the expectations are high that every single lead/rumor is followed up and contained.  Which is impossible.  When there is a failure there's a knee-jerk reaction to respond with greater power or authority even if the processes in place are competent. That is a slippery slope, more power doesn't mean greater success.  It's scary to watch political appointees stretch that power and make deals.

There's the plot point about politicians/lawmakers having a personal consequence to their decisions - to feel the direct ramifications of their policies.  Which is dangerous to entertain, but yet his fellow soldier took action to kill the Home Secretary, who David was protecting as part of his job, and seemingly had little regard for <i>his</i> life, as long as the Home Secretary was dead.   

I do wish there was not a sexual relationship between David and the person he was protecting.  It's so cliche and compromises everything he does and takes away his power as an investigator.  It does seem that David was aware of her manipulation but he still did it and seems to have had real feelings for her.  He's also asked to basically be a double agent by spying on the Secretary while leading her protection detail.  You have multiple organizations working against each other on separate agendas.  (It does get a little confusing as I'm not familiar with the British organizations and hierarchy.)

The "inside person" was not one I tagged and I actually believed them to be a good person - kudos for the successful set up.  And the set up was from the beginning which made the plot come together.  I believed Nadia, I took her reactions at face value and didn't think of much else, so that was also a surprise.  And at the heart of it, it was all orchestrated by organized crime.  (sigh) I want the world to be a better place and hate that a storyline like this is so plausible because there is such hatred in the world. 

Does make good tv though.

[budddavidbudd]

Bodyguard Appreciation Week 2019

Day 4 Favorite Dynamic

Louise Rayburn and Deepak Sherma

I would pick David and Julia but I wanted to spotlight two underrated characters who I hope are in season 2.

[milliondollarbaby87]

The Phantom of the Open (2021) Review

The Phantom of the Open (2021) Review

Based on the very true story of Maurice Flitcroft a dreamer who decided he would enter The British Open Golf Championship in 1976 despite having much experience with the sport and scores the worst ever round in Open history. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (more…)

View On WordPress