I SO wanted to like “Black Doves”, which has a whopping 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm 4 episodes in and not understanding the hype. The whole thing plays as if the creators couldn’t decide if it wanted to be hearty realism à la Slow Horses or a cartoonish romp straight out of Guy Ritchie’s playbook. Instead, we’re served a strange hybrid of offbeat characters & dubious dialogue. Yes, London looks lovely—but let’s be real, it’s never that quiet unless there’s a... Read more
I SO wanted to like “Black Doves”, which has a whopping 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm 4 episodes in and not understanding the hype. The whole thing plays as if the creators couldn’t decide if it wanted to be hearty realism à la Slow Horses or a cartoonish romp straight out of Guy Ritchie’s playbook. Instead, we’re served a strange hybrid of offbeat characters & dubious dialogue. Yes, London looks lovely—but let’s be real, it’s never that quiet unless there’s a citywide power outage. Netflix clearly threw some cash at it (because explosions don’t come cheap), but maybe they could’ve invested a bit more in plausibility or am I missing the point? Also, if you manage to follow it, congratulations—you’ve got a future in cryptography.
I liked the ballistic farce moments, especially with Williams, and my respect for Wishaw’s facial ticks has skyrocketed. Lovely tender, conflicted moments with his ex as well.
Kiera Knightly…well probably less said the better but full credit to her for carrying the full weight of twins in her belly and no body fat anywhere else. The costume/makeup department might never have had babies so I’ll let them off.
I have to confess to watching the moments of exposition repeatedly to make sure I knew what was going on but got distracted by the terrible car /traffic green screen - I saw the same white Peugeot a couple of times - thought they were being tailed.
Anyway…I watched all of it cos I was waiting for Tracey Ullman…and wanted to see more Sarah Lancashire.
I’d agree , a bit of a mish mash but a fun watch that lacked atmosphere and true tension.
Ben Whishaw’s ability to convey so much with just a twitch or glance is great. The green screen car stuff—I couldn’t unsee it once I noticed it - reminded me of those episodes of Friends when the gang go on a road-trip