ShangLuda
Admirable film.
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Ariella Broughton
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
carbuff
"Thorne: Sleepyhead" seems a lot better when you're actually watching it than after you've had a little time to reflect on it. It's still a decent British crime drama, but, a day later, it strikes me as really only deserving of a middling rating. I was especially disappointed by the ending, which was just a variation on an ending that has been done to death in fiction, even though it never actually seems to happen in real life. Even with the holes in the plot, I was impressed by the unusual plot (at least up until the end), which, while certainly grim, connects with a solid emotional punch. If you like British crime productions, this might be worth a shot, but, all things considered, it doesn't rank even close to the best of them.
ikanboy
These British shows all seem locked into the same way of presenting their story lines: a good start, a nice development of characters, weak dialogue, ending in ever expanding vast plot sink holes. This one does a nice job of dangling a variety of "suspects" in front of you, but unfortunately falls into the "don't ignore the first suspect" method. It's always nice to see McElhone and Morrissey never bores, but in the end the ludicrousness of the plot twists ever morphing does it in. ***********************SPOILER********************* Tell me how does a non medical individual gather half a million pounds worth of medical equipment, set it up securely in an abandoned slum, set up electricity that would cost a fortune and would alert the authorities, off of a janitor's salary??
GnarlyCar
"I have little doubt that author Billingham would be mortified at what has been done to his brilliant book and beloved characters..."Before you go all self important with the 'book was so much better' garbage, you may want to get your facts straight. Mark Billingham is listed as an executive producer, which, as I understand it, has an awful lot to do with how a film's made. No, I haven't seen the film, read the book, or even heard of any of it before looking at the review, but it just bugs the crap out of me when people think they own a movie just because they read the book. And to assume that the author might be disappointed without even looking into whether the author had a role in the movie adaptation? I'm pretty sure your review is useless.
j-cameron22
There is a reason that Mark Billingham's original novel Sleepyhead was such a huge Bestseller when it came out. Watching the TV show version you would be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. The novel was an ripping edge-of-the-seat page turner with twists and turns that would make your head spin. This is the most unfaithful adaptation imaginable, with terrible writing and clichéd characters and a completely re- written and boring plot. The book does make brief mention of one of DI Thorne's previous cases, a gay serial killer. The TV show decides to expand this mention while simultaneously reducing the story from the book to virtually nothing. The resulting story is a deeply confusing hotchpotch of incongruous ideas and fumbled attempts at carving a new direction. TV SHOW ENDING SPOILER: The killer from the book is completely different to the show with a genius MO missing from the show version. I have little doubt that author Billingham would be mortified at what has been done to his brilliant book and beloved characters.