Butterfly Collectors (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews (2)

Be careful who you trust.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 10 November 2017]

Two teenage boys are arrested on suspicion of murder, the pair had planned to burgle a Breaker's Yard, but weren't expecting the discovery of a dead man. Called in to the case is John McKeown, a detective that disillusioned with his role on the force, looking for a way out. One of the boys arrested is Dex, a seventeen year old, who's been bringing up his young brother and sister, following the death of their father. John forms a close bond with Dex, but soon starts to see things differently.

It's a long drama, approximately three hours, but at no point is it dull or boring, it's loaded with plot twists, and will have you questioning throughout, you'll have no idea of the outcome until the very last. It's very well acted, Postlethwaite as always is superb, you believe in every aspect of his character. The young Jamie Draven is also excellent as is Rachel Davies. Peter Kay still manages to be funny, even in a straight role.

Stick with it, well worth it. 9/10

A plot with several twists and turns

[charlz-2 · 27 October 1999]

Dex Lister is a 17-year old caring for his two grade school siblings in a home that is missing its parents. Suspected and then arrested by Det. John McKeown in the murder of a factory supervisor, Lister's fitness as a guardian comes into question. The plot moves through a series of circumstances that eventually lead the viewer to question the motives of the detective and the young suspect. Are Dex's parents really missing? Is he all that he portrays himself to be? Is the detective's judgment being clouded by his personal problems?

Pete Postlethwaite as John McKeown and Jamie Draven as Dex Lister are excellent. The interchange between the two, first as friends and then as foes, heightens as each new fact is uncovered. "Butterfly Collectors" is as much a murder mystery as an examination of the effect people have on one another and their families.

I found it difficult, at times, hearing the dialogue clearly because of the thick dialect. Still "Butterfly Collectors" is a smart, intelligent made-for-TV movie, worth the almost three-hour view.