Dreadfully Boring

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

First we start with the talent. Horowitz may well be one of those rare writers who could not pen a bad script even if he tried. Purefoy possibly one of the most under-rated A-listers around, he has the ability to ground an entire film (or mini-series), at the same time projecting intelligence, sophistication and most importantly likability. And Creed-Miles, an unexpected bonus, practically hypnotic in his ability to jump from one emotional extreme to another in about the time it takes for the Enterprise to reach Warp Speed.That said, I flagged this mini-series as a "different kind of suspense" and I am sticking to that review.I cannot easily recall a story that so challenges the viewer to engage with the characters. It is one thing to use flashbacks to reveal the history of a character at the appropriate time. It is another entirely to parcel out bits and pieces of the backstory here and there, as if offering tiny bowls of porridge to the central character in OLIVER.The twist (to this reviewer) is not the story itself (that is more of an obstacle course, with the first one to reach the end winning) but that the writer (Horowitz) understood off the top that it is hard to connect with the story if you do not understand the characters.And to be frank all the characters here are a little loopy and not entirely sympathetic. (Both Purefoy and Creed-Miles for example are arguably two sides of the very same coin, neither good nor bad, neither sane nor certifiable.) So, by the finale, that is the brilliance of Injustice. It draws the viewer along even without a sympathetic character, even with blurred plot arcs and even though you are never entirely sure who you should be cheering on.Impressive.

James Purefoy, Mark Anthony in Rome, plays defense attorney William Travers, an attorney with a defect: he has to believe in the innocence of his client to take a case. It is a defect because what would happen if he got a client off and it turned out they had been guilty. How would Travers live with the guilt; and that is the premise of this mini-series. Purefoy does an excellent job and he has some able backup in Dervla Kirwan, his wife here but remembered from Ballylissangel; and Nathaniel Parker, an old friend accused or murder but again recalled as the lead from The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Kirwan engages in a sub plot as a retired editor who is now teaching juvenile offenders in prison but takes an interest in one of her charges who shows promise as a writer. Charlie Creed-Miles plays DI Wenborn, a highly flawed detective who beats his wife and is not above planting evidence, as a Javert like detective who would like nothing better then finding a way to discredit Travers who cost a fellow police officer his job. All of the plot twists do come together at the conclusion but each viewer will have to decide how satisfying or unsatisfying is the conclusion.

Although Horowitz created this series, I swear I saw the ghost of Hitchcock pacing in the background. Eerily, his prints hoovered just off the pages of script, evident in pacing, tone and tenor and I wonder if the honourable he and Mr. Horowitz wrote the denouement in one mind.Yes, Purefoy (Travers) was excellent as a the subdued, yet stalk-on rigorous attorney, eying both the prosecution and his client throughout the trial. Moreover, the flashbacks of life before rural Suffolk, as well as the choppy shots of the murder of Spaull, were done in a coherent, easy manner with which to keep pace. The insinuations of a 'breakdown' in Travers' past was another great possible portent of pitiful prospects that sent frissons up my spine. Was he going to fall apart and go on a spree, will it come off short, constrained by the so-called British sangfroid? And again my thoughts returned to Hitch, who could have only contributed to this series through the breath of his spirit and his lasting influence on a talented Horowitz. Hitch was admittedly afraid of many things, in fact, he once said "The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them." The support actors were brilliant! Dervla Kirwan is always spot-on. Although I have never watched Charlie Creed-Miles before, I can honestly say, I just hated him in such a good way! Can't wait to see him in something else.In conclusion, this is a great UK miniseries with 5 episodes that keep one interested and, I would say, entertained. Give it a watch, you'll have no regrets.

I am pretty disappointed after it ended. The show seemed to have so much more potential and ideas than that lazy finale.The show seemed to have very smart. I expected something about the idea of injustice, and what it means. I thought that since the first guy William killed was an animal rights activist that used violence to get what he saw as justice, there will be some philosophizing about how what Will does can be compared to it and more thoughts on performing self justice. I thought that since William was going through psychologically painful time of questioning the legal system after he defended someone who was indeed guilty he will not be able to handle defending his innocent friend Marting and this would end up sending him to jail and thus again showing the injustice happening.Nothing like that happened. The ending was laughable. My thoughts on the final episode are in my review on this episode. I find it very lazy to suddenly make Martin interested in child pornography. Not only was it basically out of nowhere and William's thought process made no sense whatsoever, it also was just a cheap move to make people in our easily manipulated and child crazy society to see what Will has done justifiable and right without giving it any deeper thought. I think the only people who will be satisfied with this kind of the finale are fat, uneducated housewives who watched Nancy Grace and until now are crying about "baby killer" being out and how they would want to kill her. Which also explains why the group who gave this show the highest score are females 30-44.I am also kind of sad that the story of Alan and his book wasn't really developed. He was just the link to the gun Will used, and while I can see that it is a mini series but I wish there was a bit more to it.There are lots of clichés in this show. I already mentioned that the guys who were lynched by William both committed crimes with children involved. Then we also have the good, talented guy that was bullied and one day couldn't handle it and shot the bully. The mean cop who is abusive to his wife because he got changed by his work. And his partner is of course a new, nice guy. The animal rights person who is of course the evil one because he cares about other living beings as well. etc. etc. etc. But I must say most of them didn't bother me too much. Except for the first one, but this is just because it happened twice, and one should not overuse such a formula in a 5 episodes show.So why after writing so many negative things do I still give it 7/10? Well, because the rest was pretty good. The acting was absolutely high class. There isn't one actor who I think wasn't giving a top performance throughout the show. There were great scenes, great dynamics The ideas were all very good as well. If only one could rewrite the ending it would have been a real masterpiece of television.