ConStar's Pilot Watch: Gracepoint
I watched the Broadchurch pilot once, then never made it back for the rest of the series. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but maybe at the time it was a bit heavy for what I wanted to watch? I have But from what I remember of it, this show is a scene by scene American recreation of most of that pilot. And of course the star is the same–with his American accent. Wasn’t sure David Tennant’s accent was working for me, but it seemed to ease itself into naturality (a word I’m making up, yes) by halfway through the episode.
I really liked that the dad of the dead boy was Hispanic and I think his performance surprised and pleased me most of all. (Oh and that the daughter’s boyfriend was black—can’t remember if that was the case on Broadchurch.) There was something about the dad, especially in the scene in the morgue, that I loved. He portrayed what it might look like for a father to lose his son really well. In fact, the silence that reigned in the theater I watched this in when Tennant and Gunn (I’m bad at character names upon a first viewing, apparently) inform the family was a true testament to the great job the actors and the director did of pulling the viewers in to such a horrifyingly sad and intimate moment in this family’s life. Anna Gunn was great and I think a perfect fit for this role.
I would like to know what happens, but I’m not sure my patience will hold up, I apparently didn’t have it for BC. I like mysteries though and this certainly reminds me of some random mystery novels I read as a kid—small beach town, murder, where everyone is a suspect. I meant to binge Broadchurch when it was done airing in the US on TV, but I never did. Maybe I’ll make the effort here. (Then watch the original, because it’s bound to be better.)
