The path of True Love never did run smooth

TRUE Love never runs smoothly so the saying goes, but true love doesn’t seem to have much place at all in the heart of Dominic Savage’s five-part feature of the same name.

 

The series of half-hour, script-less dramas, set in the seaside town of Margate, have been running all this week on BBC. While each episode is a stand alone story, there are overlaps of characters between them, giving the feeling that it is in fact contained within the same town.

I must admit though, I was at a bit of a loss as to where the true love aspect fitted in. In Sunday’s opener Nick (David Tennant) is going along fine in married life with Ruth (Joanne Froggatt), when old flame Serena (Vicky McClure) saunters back into his life having, 17 years earlier, high tailed out of it.

A meeting by the sea follows, there’s a kiss and a lot of truly dreadful words spoken.  Because it isn’t scripted, I’m presuming Savage’s aim in creating this concept was that the dialogue would be spontaneous, utterly natural and therefore more believable, filled with all the awkward silences and ridiculous nonsense that most people come up with in real life when faced with an impossible situation.  I’m a great believer, however, in the fact that actors are actors and not script-writers and it’s a rare beast when improv is a success.

This is a case in point. The dialogue was littered with such clichéd rubbish as “I never loved anyone like I loved you”, a line which Jodie Foster delivered with far more conviction to Richard Gere many moons ago in Somersby. And there’s the crux – most of the lines we’ve heard before, because the actors are drawing on the same well of knowledge as the public of past attempts at declarations of love. Scriptwriters on the other hand are usually far more adept at coming up with new ways of saying these things.

Another point of contention was the soundtrack, clearly being used to fill the immense amount of silence that seemed to be occurring; immense considering the fact the episode was only 30 minutes long.

The affair continues and there’s talk of running away together before eventually deciding it’s not a good option and by the end, Nick has seen off the temptress on the train and gone back to his moping but inexplicably forgiving wife. Monday’s episode wasn’t much better with the adultery stakes raised higher when Ashley Walters’ married carpet salesman took an interest in Jaime Winstone. He decides to elope with her before finding out the story she spun about her mother being in debt was a scam to try swipe his savings. In the end his wife, again inexplicably, begs him not to leave, especially with their young baby.

The mind boggles in all the scenarios as to where was the true love aspect, so much so that I wondered had a question mark been omitted from the title. Less true love, more settling. Tuesday’s episode had Billie Piper as a teacher who fell in love with a female pupil, which was never going to end rosy. There was more subtlety in the handling of this storyline than the previous two, but there was no hint of reason given as to why the teacher had decided to become a lesbian and moon after her student, other than she may have been looking for something else after her affair with a married man (another one) had ended badly.

The whole thing felt like something film students might have put together on their first foray behind the camera. Which was an utter shame considering the stellar cast assembled – I really thought they could have done better in coming up with something more interesting to say.

That’s not to say it doesn’t look well. Margate is Dominic Savage’s hometown and you can see he has a clear affinity with the place. It’s well shot and the place looks great but there’s just no getting away from the cliché-riddled dialogue. There are also glaring inadequacies with the plot development. At once stage on Sunday, Nick made a speech at Ruth’s birthday declaring her to be 34, which seemed an impossible feat with two teenage children, with Nick having spent 13 years in Canada and in a relationship 17 years previously with Serena. They would have had to be 17 when this so-called ‘great’ first love occurred but the indications are they were older. All very implausible if you ask me but overall a minor issue in a far bigger problem.

The final instalment stars David Morrissey however, so there may be hope of the series’ redemption yet.

One to watch: Veep has just finished airing its first season in the US to loud applause and finally begins here next Monday on Sky Atlantic. It stars Julia Louis Dreyfus (she of Seinfield fame) and is penned by the satiric genius that is Armando Iannucci.

Filmed in the style of his acclaimed British political comedy The Thick Of It and its spin-off film In The Loop, Veep centres around gaffe-prone US vice-president Selina Meyer and the back-stabbing that goes with political office. It also stars Anna Chlumsky (all grown up since My Girl) as Selina’s foul-mouthed chief of staff; Tony Hale (Arrested Development) as Meyer’s assistant and Matt Walsh as her communications man. If you find anything riddled with profanities distressing, then you may want to avoid this; if not, sit back and enjoy.