The Night Manager really is one of the better mini-series that you'll ever see! It will draw you in from the first episode and keep you captivated and on the edge of your seat throughout each episode! This show won a bunch of awards including Tom Hiddleston (Best Actor), Hugh Laurie (Supporting Actor) and Olivia Colman (Supporting Actress) all winning Golden Globes for their performances and each one was well deserved! The rest of the cast is great too. It's also directed by an Oscar winning director in Susanne Bier. This has to be the best adaptation of John le Carre that's ever been made. If you haven't seen this yet then do yourself a favor and go watch it.
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Supermanfan-1310 December 2023
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Rob133113 January 2023I have to say That Night Manger was even better than I expected and I was expecting it to be good! Especially after reading all the great reviews and ratings. Tom Hiddleston is one of the most underrated actors working today. He's terrific in everything he does. The Night Manager follows former British soldier and now hotel manager, Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston). He is contacted by a spy operative for his help to spy on international businessman Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). Roper is believed to be the leader of secret arms trade. Pine infiltrates Romper's inner circle while keeping his real mission a secret. If you're looking for a good spy thriller that will hold your attention throughout every episode then give this a try. You won't be disappointed.
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At last a good old fashioned yarn where bad guys are bad and the good guy has a moral position. A flick through the average night of TV and the schedules are filled with low-cost reality rubbish, The Night Manager breaks the mold it has a good storyline, high production values, and a great cast. More like watching a Bond movie, for example, using three million pound plus speedboats to go out to a restaurant just to get a beautifully choreographed overhead shot framed against the Med. Certainly looks and, with its intelligent script, sounds more like a big budget movie filmed on location in Europe than TV series. What more do you want for your licence fee? Forget it is reminiscent of a bygone era it is entertainment. As long as it doesn't degenerate into an overlong series with filler episodes that go nowhere I will keep watching...
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linnet10014 March 2016This is a rare thing: a genuinely classy thriller. I've become so used to dodgy story lines and plots that resemble Swiss cheese that this is something of a shock. Of course, it helps that the acting is so brilliant with top performances from the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki but a great actor needs a great script. The bedrock for this classy thriller is, of course, John le Carre, supported in the adaptation by David Farr. Susanne Bier's direction is a masterclass. The cinematography is stunning.
It's become a cliché to say that they don't make them like this anymore, but they rarely do. For me, it's the finest thriller this decade.
Oh, and Tom Hiddleston would make a very Ian Fleming James Bond.
I keep coming back to le Carre though. Once upon a time thriller writers like him and Freddie Forsyth were painstaking in their attention to detail, writing plots that arose out of believable characters. There's many a TV series that could take note. -
Pickwick1221 February 2016Though updated for the present time and reworked slightly, The Night Manager stays forcefully true to the characterizations and atmosphere of Le Carre's classic spy novel. Tom Hiddleston shines as the complicated protagonist, and Huge Laurie and Olivia Colman provide forceful screen presence to offset his vulnerably self-contained persona.
Fans of Le Carre's work are likely to enjoy The Night Manager, as are those who enjoy an atmospheric mystery populated with beautiful men and women, intelligent writing, and international stakes. Not a series to watch without paying attention, it is a series well worth the time and effort to absorb and enjoy it fully. -
imrigu31 October 2020I was searching for a one-season story series and luckily i found this. Every series or tv-show now just gets stretched and stretched, also it is becoming a norm too. I wanted to see something entertaining without having to waste time watching 4 seasons or five of a series/show which also in future could get unnecessary stretching.
So due to the above reason i convinced myself to watch this and woow i don't have any negative criticism towards this show. It is a brilliant entertaining worthy of my time show. Casting is great, Actors are great, Acting is great, story is good, and what else do i need?? nothing.
Binged this series!! -
ma-cortes5 August 2017The night manager of a Cairo hotel called Jonathan Pine , Tom Hiddleston , is recruited by an organization commanded by Angela Burr , Olivia Coleman , to infiltrate a weapons dealer , Hugh Laurie. As he gets involved with the sweetheart , Elizabeth Debicki , of the mobster and his hoodlums :Tom Hollander , Alistair Petrie.
This is a suspenseful series plenty of emotion , intrigue , thrills ,crosses and double-crosses . The extreme intrigue and tension are extended from start to finish .This expensive miniseries is considered to be the most lavish TV drama in the history of BBC. Extraordinary acting by main cast , Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie , both of whom give magnificent performances . Support cast is frankly awesome as Douglas Hodge , Tom Hollander, Tobias Menzies , Alistair Petrie , David Harewood , Antonio De La Torre, and special mention for the pregnant Olovia Coleman.This was well rendered from a novel by prestigious author John Le Carre who has been adapted on cinema several times, such as: The spy who came in from the Cold , Call for the dead, Tinker , soldier and spy ,The little drummer girl, The tailor of Panama , The Russian house , The constant gardener , The most wanted man ,among others. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Susanne Bier .Debut TV miniseries for filmmaker Bier who has previously shot several foreign language theatrical feature movies such as: Brothers , Serena, In a better world , Second chance , Things we lost in the fire , After wedding . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Michael Snyman shot on marvelous locations from Spain , United Kingdom , Turkey , Egypt ,and Switzerland . Suspenseful and thrilling musical score by Victor Reyes. In 2016, it garnered 12 Emmy nominations including outstanding lead actor Tom Hiddleston , supporting players for both Hugh Laurie and Olivia Coleman , outstanding filmmaking for a miniseries for filmmaker Susanne Biet and writing for writer David Farr , but this renditíon is updated to the present day and it is not set in the era of the time John Le Carre source novel that was published in 1993. -
imizrahi200212 May 2016but things started happening in the fourth episode that seemed implausible. not in the sense that someone grows wings and flies implausible... but even with the little we know of a certain character, they make a decision that seemed HIGHly unlikely. not for someone who's achieved their position in that sort of work. but that was the second seemingly 'off' move for a character. one had dire consequences, the other was ridiculously foolish, most things considered, as to context... i don't like spoilers. and i don't care to be more specific than the vagaries i've already mentioned... it's well played and photographed. some beautiful landscapes. some exotic... but the plot seems amateurishly thought out/clichéd in certain parts of the infrastructure...which, for me, weakened it as a whole...
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adigarg9431 March 2016I would like to start with the fact that a lot of reviews for this show are by people who are comparing it to the book. We all know those comparisons result in TV Series Bashing. Ignore them.
This is a flash of brilliance with veteran actors giving their best performances. You will enjoy every moment of it and if you're anything like me, it will keep you at the edge of your seat.
The story progresses quickly, it's entertaining and the book's plot has been well executed. Sure there are some goofs and loopholes (Specially in the finale) but despite that I would want to give this mini-series a 10 because I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. There is action, drama, blasts, a love story, betrayal, alliances, guns, henchmen and more - everything that constitutes a super secret spy movie in the 21st century!
Watch it for the menacing Laurie, for the charming Hiddleton, watch it for the performance of a lifetime by Tom Hollander and Olivia Conman.. but do yourself a favor, and watch this! -
This was one of BBC's most expensive productions ever, which apparently came in at a cool £18million for the six episodes.
Night Manager is based on John Le Carré's book of the same name. Le Carré is my all-time favourite 20th Century author and I have read every single one of his books, so you will understand that I awaited this adaptation with very high expectations.
After all, with a movie-type budget of £18m; with the eminent BBC producing it; with 'A' list British actors in the lead roles, and with Le Carré himself on board in an advisory capacity – what could go wrong?
Nothing could and nothing did, is the opinion of the vast majority.
The Night Manager is the story of Johnathan Pine, an ex-army officer who works as a night manager in a prestigious Hotel in Cairo. His life changes one day when he becomes embroiled with a classy Egyptian prostitute. She is staying in the hotel with a young, influential Egyptian rich kid who is involved in the illegal arms trade.
The poor young lady passes on information about these illegal deals to Johnathan and gets mercilessly killed for her efforts. Pine is outraged and is subsequently co-opted by a British Intelligence unit to go after a certain Dicky Roper, an arch-villain arms dealer, who was involved in the girl's demise.
This sets up the remainder of the story. Pine goes undercover in Dicky Roper's criminal organisation, and he reports back to the intelligence unit in London. The British spooks who recruited Pine are also fighting their own corrupt bosses and they set out – against all odds – to nail the villains and stop a major illegal arms shipment.
It is staple Le Carré fare. Intrigue and double-dealing in the corridors of power in Westminster; uncertain alliances with a friendly CIA operative; and will Pine be found out as he rises to the top of Roper's criminal hierarchy. Then we have Pine's suicidal love affair with Roper's high-class bit of fluff.
As the series progressed, I could tell that the writer hadn't stuck to Le Carré's story. Indeed le Carré himself admitted as much. There was something too mainstream and too conventional about it. Too little cynicism and not enough gritty realism to have come from the pen of the master spy writer.
It's a glitzy piece of work and the 'money' shows. Exotic locations, expensive stars, incredible special effects, including displays of 21st century, hi-tech armaments lighting up the night sky as Dicky demonstrates his wares to a buyer. Night Manager is more in the style of a James Bond movie than Le Carrés The Spy who Came in from the Cold, or Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy.
Written in the 90's, the novel was Le Carré's first post-cold war novel, and the minutiae of the plot creaks with age as the producers try to update it to become a 21st-century tale. There are several elements of the plot which don't work well in 2016; such as Pine's use of a stolen mobile phone to send messages to British Intelligence. There are also later uses of mobile phones by Pine, his illicit lover and his colleagues back in London which simply wouldn't happen into today's tech-savvy world. A billionaire arms dealer like Roper would have had all manner of technical protections and listening devices that would have alerted him of such goings on in his house.
The plot also stretches the bounds of credibility in several areas, especially with regard to Pine's love affair with Roper's girlfriend. Roper and his gang are merciless killers. Who in their right mind would risk their lives – and the whole operation, by meeting each other in secret and stealing loving glances and holding hands – even in Roper's presence? It is silly, corny and drags the story down to a lower level than it might otherwise merit.
The biggest sin of all was to change the end of Le Carré's story - for the worst. What a shame!
Hugh Lawrie as Dicky Roper is a tour-de-force and plays the part of the brilliant but evil villain to utter perfection. Whenever he is on screen – which is most of the time, he holds you spellbound with his witty, smarmy, scary charm. He has a steely core that is capable of mass murder in the blink of an eye. But to believe that such a brilliant mastermind wouldn't have smelled out Pine's deceit way earlier than he finally did is stretching our credulity too far. (Even the fawning Telegraph reviewer agrees with me on this)
Tim Hiddleston, as Pine, does a reasonable job. Everyone seems to be in love with his performance, but for me, he did well without being exceptional. There were many times when I felt I couldn't totally buy into the role he was supposed to play. He didn't convince me that he was a genuine spy – he looked too worried and gave uncertain smiles most of the time, which would surely have been spotted by Roper.
Tom Hollander excelled as Roper's deposed right-hand man, and like Lawrie, he delivered a great, very believable performance.
The rest of the cast were pretty good, but I'm afraid I must single out Olivia Colman as being woefully miscast as the intelligence boss with a personal mission to bring down Roper.
I love Colman's work and I think she is a great actor, but she simply wasn't the right person. There was nothing about her performance that rang true, and the fact that she was pregnant (really) didn't help one iota. It was just plain silly.
So my final verdict on The Night Manager is that it was good entertainment, but not exceptional. I have seen many spy/police dramas produced by the BBC over the past few years that were much better, and which cost far less. -
amkn7516 June 2022With the cast in this little series, nothing could go wrong. I guess it could, but it didn't.
Great story, and it captured my interest so much I had to watch it properly instead of having it as just some background entertainment while doing other things.
It's like a nice short story where the viewer is dragged in slowly, and ends in a climax. The last episode is definitely a highlight, where some are really slow.
If I could I'd probably give it an 8.5/10, but since that's not an option I went up instead. A 9 it is then! -
urthpainter30 June 2016Very flash and dazzle television highlighted by attractive cast, exotic locations, and cloak and dagger plot.
So you're ex British military, disillusioned from your war experience, and currently a night manager at a four star Cairo hotel. Well... you aren't, but this is how the lead actor finds himself wrapped into the role of an undercover asset trying to take down an international arms dealer.
When you got the skills, are ridiculously hansom, I suppose life moves pretty fast! The Night Manager gets off to a great start, setting up a nice six part series of some serious undercover action. And I'm not just talking about the quickies with equally beautiful women.
If this all sounds too awesome to pass up - quit reading here, and fire this series up! It is unlikely you will be disappointed. However, if you want to know my negative marks, proceed.
The disappointment comes in the last third, where an increasingly unlikely set of choices, circumstances, and results unfold to wrap up the story - just not in most savory of ways to the experienced mediaphile. If one reads or researches enough actual historical espionage - spies are one cold group of mo-fo's who will use any variety of tactics to achieve their ends. This includes lies, betrayal, seduction and true moral ambiguity. Unfortunately, The Night Manager simply doesn't turn the dark corner to deliver the logical payoff. The writers choose to keep the protagonist likable and a man of honor - which sounds good in theory, but the choices rely on a lot of luck and suspension of disbelief to rationalize the outcome.
This may sound harsh - but I'm hoping anyone who reads this watches this series (or already has), to understand my viewpoint. It's really good, recommended - but falls far short of a classic, 7 out of 10. -
cwl_512 April 2016THE SPOILER IS: IT'S NOT A GRRRREAT SERIES!
I think i've written maybe 1 review in all my years using IMDb, so the fact that i'm writing this negative review now says a lot (to me anyway).
My parents recommended this to me saying it was 'fantastic', a 'must watch series', and that Tom Hiddleston should be the next Bond. I had a few doubts about their TV recommendation, but it sounded interesting and the cast looked great, so I gave it a go.
I started watching, and not long in to the first episode i realised that it just wasn't very good! Like someone else said in a previous review: the moment when the good guy stumbles across the bad guy's invoice from the arms company which has NAPALM and NERVE GAS written on it is the ultimate face-palm moment. But i'd started so i'd have to finish, and give the series a chance and watch all 6 episodes (sigh).
In a nutshell - over-hyped, poorly scripted, poorly directed, but occasionally has its moments.- Hugh Laurie is a superb actor, and plays a good villain in this series. But his character and his performance are not amazing, he's been let down by the poor script and directing.
- Olivia Coleman's performance in general was very good, but I found her bumbly northerner character a bit out of place.
- Tom Hollander as the frightening Corky was great in my opinion, and a thoroughly believable performance. He steals every scene he's in.
- Tom Hiddleston is okay, but does not come off as a convincing spy character throughout, and his nervous and worried expressions are cheesy. He has zero chemistry with any of the female characters. Like Hugh Laurie I think he's been let down by the script and directing. Based on The Night Manager, I don't think he would make a very good James Bond.
- every time David Harewood was on screen as the American Joel Steadman, the only thing i could think about was how terrible his American accent is, and i didn't pay attention to anything the characters were saying or what was going on (it didn't really matter anyway). Given the obviously big budget, why couldn't they just use a real American actor?! Some of the other accents throughout the series are also quite bad, from the Middle Eastern characters to the super-clichéd posh English mercenaries in the Haven army camp etc.
- Elizabeth Debicki's acting was terrible playing the role of 'Jed'. I haven't seen her in anything else, so I don't know if she's as bad in other roles too. Again, her complete lack of chemistry with any of the main characters was annoying, and her character was really pointless to anything that was going on in the story.
- the plot was predictable, and the characters were mundane clichés.
I've given it a 4/10 simply because it has a few great actors in it who do a pretty good job, and this series does have it's occasional moments. Also, it's slightly better than most of the other complete garbage that's puked on to our TV's each night. -
Harun_Karali23 February 2016The Night Manager centers on the story of Jonathan Pine, who is fed up with the corruption that surrounds him everyday, Until, He meets Sophie who gives him a invoice of weapons that are going to be used. He decides to take action and sends the information to an intelligence agency in England, And in a perfect world that might have been sufficient, but that isn't the case in this one, politicians decide that acting on this Intel might do more harm then good.
The storyline is well written, As for the acting cast; Hugh Laurie & Tom Hiddleston do what they do best. This show has great potential and if the writers don't drop the ball, I am sure that we will enjoy it for a long time. -
robert-temple-17 April 2016This TV series is the best ever adaptation of a John le Carré novel. The direction by Danish director Susanne Bier is sheer genius. She knows exactly when to insert a closeup of a single malevolent eye of Hugh Laurie, just to unsettle us. The casting is perfect, the script by David Farr is perfect, the direction, the story, are all perfect. Hugh Laurie is so brilliant at being a master criminal with charm that it is difficult to imagine anyone else doing anywhere near as well in the part of arch-villain Dickie Roper. Tom Hiddleston is a revelation. Even though he played Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen's MIDNIGHT IN Paris (2011, see my review), I must confess that I had never otherwise heard of him before. He seems to have 'come out of nowhere', nowhere being a long series of TV things and rather obscure productions one does not easily incline to see. But here he is, all super-starish, sprung fully fledged from the brow of whoever had the inspiration to cast him in the lead for this series. And then there is the amazing Elizabeth Debicki, lithe and beautiful and spell-binding. And then there is the truly wonderful Olivia Colman, one of my favourite actresses. (Am I allowed to prefer her even to Elizabeth Debicki? Am I mad?) With a cast like this, nothing could go wrong. And another of my favourite actors, David Hodge, with his look of earnest conscience, is in there too. It is all simply too wonderful. Nor dare I forget to mention the amazing Tom Hollander. Who could have imagined that he could so readily play a psychopathic killer? Once again, one cannot imagine any other actor having been better in the role of 'Corky'. This was just perfection, that's what it was. Tom Hollander has become so versatile it is almost scary. As he is so good at everything, I expect to see him come down my chimney next Christmas as Santa. This six-part series is gripping edge-of-the-seat stuff for every second. A huge budget was lavished on the production, with a great deal of use made of locations, namely Morocco, Mallorca, Zermatt, Egypt, the UK, and Turkey, and many aerial drone or helicopter sequences were used to great effect. TV series do not usually have that kind of money to spend. And it all paid off, every penny of it. This was truly TV drama of the highest imaginable calibre. This inside portrait of an international arms dealer's world, and the attempts to penetrate it, is riveting. Le Carré reminds us of the duplicity of all governments and venality of so many civil servants by showing the insider treachery of the Foreign Office and 'River House' mandarins in London, who, far from wishing to catch Dickie Roper and put him out of business, are actually supplying him with the very arms which he is selling to unsavoury people in the Middle East. So Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman, who are risking their lives to bring a monster down, are being blocked at every turn by the 'Establishment'. Alas, too true, too true. If you are the nervous sort, you won't have many fingernails left if you watch this all the way through. But it is a series of such rare excitement and spectacular impact that we can only cry out pathetically: 'More! More!' It is streets ahead of HOMELAND and any other possible competitor. It has style and brilliance like no other suspense series.
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rich-fouts26 December 2019In 2003, UK Intelligence Officer Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) is a first-hand witness to the murderous aftermath of over 100 children near the Iranian border (she sees lung tissue seep from the mouths of these youngsters, thanks to a mustard gas specifically designed to prevent them from wearing gas masks). This unimaginable event motivates her to bring down a man named Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), who after learning of this same event, decides to exploit the properties of this horrific gas by selling it to the highest bidders.
Ten years later, Roper is still outmaneuvering Burr in a global game of cat-and-mouse despite Burr's throwing dozens of satellites at the problem. Then, in the first of several critical milestones, Burr unknowingly hits pay dirt when she places a casual, yet critical phone call to Jonathan Pine, the night manager at a Cairo hotel (Tom Hiddleston) in an effort to interfere with yet another one of Roper's terrorist transactions in Cairo. Her efforts, too late, result in more tragic death.
Fast forward to 2011 and Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine has moved on to another night manager position at a highly-exclusive, luxury Swiss resort. When evil-genius Richard Roper coincidentally checks in one cold winter night, Hiddleston recognizes his name and associates it with the Cairo event. Shaken, he places a call to Burr, who is still sustaining her efforts to bring Roper to justice. After a clandestine meeting, Burr enlists Pine as a deep-cover asset to infiltrate Roper's organization. Though a hotel manager is hardly qualified for such a dangerous operation, Hiddleston's character just happens to be a former, two-tour Iraq solider (giving him a few necessary skills that will come in handy later on).
After a reluctant decision to help Burr, Pine's initial assignment is to place himself into Roper's debt by thwarting the kidnapping of Roper's young son. The idea for achieving this first of many mini missions -- is both spell-binding and horrifying in its uniquely innovative, very unexpected, high-risk execution. It is this event that also triggers the rest of the story in a series of dramatic twists and turns that keep us completely engaged.
Though The Night Manager is another take on good versus evil, against glamorous James Bond style music and images of elegant hotels, island resorts, yachts and champagne - it is executed through masterful direction and unique story lines supported by the acting talents of Hugh Laurie and the fabulous Elizabeth Debicki (who plays Laurie's girlfriend). Debicki does some of her best acting as she learns to mobilize fear into strength. She also uses great skill to reveal glimpses of vulnerability and terror through a convincing act of confidence and cunning. This is an actress to watch.
David Harewood, who is always good, plays Burr's equally-committed American counterpart (the two of them had a previous fling, though it's not pivotal to the story, hence fairly out-of-place. British acting veteran Tobias Menizes (from Game of Thrones) is excellent as always, this time as one of Burr's MI6 associates (who would later deliver an exquisite Prince Philip to Colman's Queen Elizabeth -- in The Crown). To say Menizes has range is the century's understatement.
Like most spy tales, the story logic depends on its audience overlooking some fairly big flaws, starting with the assumption that a hotel night manager, with no spook training at all, has the necessary skills and fortitude to participate in such a sophisticated operation. When Roper's front man (played by Tom Hollander) suspects our night manager is a fraud, he puts all his cards on the table in full view. Any good solider would keep this information to himself and use it to his advantage. Though Hollander's bad judgment is supported by excess drinking and an obsession with sex, it is nevertheless a bit painful to witness such a big oversight as his many "I'm onto you" speeches become repetitive and monotonous. The plot also involves the corruption of several MI6 executives, who oddly have no contingency plans in place when things start to unravel.
All of these flaws could have been used to create even more dramatic conflict, hence in my view were missed opportunities. My suspicion is that veteran director Susanne Bier, certainly aware of this, believed playing them out would add even more complexity to already-tangled web (perhaps throwing its viewers into sensory overload). The usual time-and-money constraints likely played a role as well.
Bier is easily forgiven when Hiddleston engages a brilliant contingency of his own (in real-time) after learning his cover is about to be blown, sending the series into its exciting tailspin.
Overall, Bier, who has boatloads of experience in this genre moves the series to the top of its game aided by the flawless performances of its stars: Laurie (who is especially steely), Hiddleston and Colman -- who all get lost in their characters. A stunning soundtrack by Victor Reyes (who composed the score for Grand Piano) is key to moving the story along.
Like any script that revolves around the destruction of a businessman who trades in terror, there are several critical dependencies, and you need to pay attention to the names and positions of the players, especially the corrupt government officials. Minus the benefit of having read the book, I found myself rewinding a few scenes to avoid missing important details. It was well worth it however in a series that will keep you completely on the edge of your seat.
It's been said a good film needs to have at least five, superbly-executed scenes. The Night Manager's superb director and cast certainly pass that test. -
tejasdhanuka1 March 2023Not a dull moment, not an avoidable scene, not a filler or obvious conversation in the show. Everything was right in place. Where it should be. From the acting to the directing. And what I like about British shows: they are ON REAL locations, or as close they can. The blond Tom Hidleston and was glad to: he's so underrated. The plan to get Roper at the end was brilliant, but also tricky while,they were so many things based on luck and outside help. This show is one of a kind, and I guess while the last episode stays open to new adventures: we aren't be lucky to have a second year, are we? Just amazing!!!
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grantss24 April 2016Mildly intriguing - quite dry.
An Englishman, Jonathan Pine (played by Tom Hiddleston), is working as the night manager of a Cairo hotel. He gets involved with a local woman who is the girlfriend of a local gangster. Through her relationship with the gangster she has acquired information linking illegal international arms sales with Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), an English billionaire. She is soon found dead, murdered due to her having this information. Fearing for his own life, Pine flees, ending up working at a remote hotel in Switzerland. Two years pass, and then Roper visits the Swiss hotel. This rekindles Pines thirst for revenge, and he is enlisted by British Intelligence to spy on Roper. What follows is a very dangerous game of intrigue and deception.
Interesting story, based on a John le Carre novel, but not told in a very exciting way. Just seems like a standard, join-the-dots espionage drama. The excitement is ramped up in the final episode but even then it comes in fits and starts. There's never any real momentum in the series. Conclusion feels rushed too - too neat and easy, after all the setbacks that came before.
Tom Hiddleston is one of the reasons I found the series less than great. He was okay initially, as the night manager. However, he then transformed into a ruthless thug and then a smug, swarmy businessman. The thug part wasn't believable, both from a character development perspective and an acting perspective. The swarmy businessman was also a bit of a character stretch (though not as much as the thug), and was a fairly irritating character to boot.
Solid work by Hugh Laurie as Roper. Interesting to see him in an arch-villain role, and he pulls it off with aplomb.
Good supporting cast - Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Debicki, David Harewood. -
robtcanning28 January 2022In my opinion Tom Huddleston would be a great choice to take over as James Bond. This movie is a great example of how he would do in my opinion. Hopefully the 007 producers will give him serious consideration. He has shown the skills needed for the role and will easily handle the roll whether it requires seriousness action and also the times when sarcastic humor is needed.
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From the start this looked superior to most British TV series which are light on budget and lazy in direction. A John Le Carré novel adapted at great cost seemed like a perfect mix for a short series. Very quickly I found that it wasn't quite short enough and they really dragged out some episodes. They could have told the story in four episodes and told it better. I haven't read the novel but the story just wasn't clever enough at times. The book probably explained things much better as was the case in The Little Drummer Girl which was the best spy novel I have ever read and incredibly intelligent.
The ending made little sense and I came away wondering just what in the heck happened. I also thought that the pregnant station chief was the weakest link in the acting chain but I always blame acting faults on the director and I happen to think that British TV suffers from bad direction. I also thought the love interest was just stupid. Why, why, why would he go after the girlfriend of the man he was trying to bring down? It was artificial, unbelievable, and just not very interesting. -
bjarias27 January 2024... not many productions are nearly as good as this six-part Euro-crime-series... everything works to near perfection.. writing - casting - acting - production-values.. everything
... nominated-winning numerous awards.. highly-deserving every one.. to be around a very long time, a timeless-production, now coming to Acorn TV early February '24, it will again gain a new audience
... when watching a series with characters so well done you never want it ending.. to know you'll be there again sometime with them.. it doesn't happen here with these wonderful people, but there will come along another as good, guess that's at times all we can hope-ask-for. -
SpeakingEye6 December 2017Beware spoilers please.
In an age of repeat showing, catch up and on-demand TV, somehow I managed to miss The Night Manager series. The main anecdotal feedback was Hugh Laurie's masterful performance as the main villain and the quality of the drama itself. I finally bought the DVD and sat down to watch what I expected to be a masterpiece.
The Night Manager can be considered a masterpiece if you compare it to most of the dross played daily in multi-channel TV land. But judged alone, it certainly is not a masterpiece, instead it is average at best mainly due to those who managed the creative process.
There are some decent moments; the weaponry display, the Egypt crowd opening and the interplay between Tom Hiddleston and Aure Atika. It is a shame that Atika's character is not developed as she has great screen presence and was a worthy foil for Pine.
The problems essentially stem from the presence of 10 executive producers who have proceeded to produce the inevitable camel instead of the thoroughbred horse. The plot whilst proceeding at a fair enough pace, is full of holes and many times you will need to forget you have an IQ to find watch you are watching believable.
Examples ? Pine returning to the Egyptian hotel where he spent 5 years working at and be recognised by no-one. A heavily pregnant character managing to evade pregnancy flying regulations whilst simultaneously putting her unborn child in mortal danger while carrying a gun she managed to get past Egypt airport security. My particular highlight is that in the digital age, Roper still prefers having print outs of highly sensitive information which would be ruinous for him if discovered, which he then keeps in in a desk drawer in his office.
Hugh Laurie's supposed famed performance provides instead the most frustrating aspect of the series. The mistake made was to not have him do anything bad at the show beginning to establish his villain credentials. Instead, we witness a bumbling fool who will trust a complete stranger over his closest ally. His lines also completely remove any air of menace; the more he witters on, the less chilling he becomes. If the Director had wanted him to purvey menace, she should have watched Michael Corleone in Godfather Part II. Corleone says only the minimum amount required and is all the more chilling for it. Laurie instead waffles on and on. Laurie was not also helped by the script giving him henchman called "Frisky" "Corky" and "Tabby"; names which do not strike fear in the heart.
Tom Hiddleston is not much better; this is the only role I have seen him in and from the look of it, it feels he spent his whole time at drama school perfecting his icy stare. His character also suffers from a lack of a decent back story and which means his motivation to become a Night Manager and to then remember he has Bond like qualities are not explained and therefore not appreciated by the viewer.
Supporting characters do not compensate; Tom Hollander's character delivers lines as though playing a bitchy celebrity hairdresser. He is also supposedly a fearsome operator who then proceeds to lose badly the only fight he enters into. Olivia Colman delivers her lines as if she is playing a West Country School Dinner Lady whose kitchen has run out of carrots. There simply is not any trace of top civil servant in her portrayal. I would have much preferred someone like Anna Maxwell Martin or Vicky McClure in the role.
Given the sheer scale, cost and complexity of the whole series, this really needed a strict Director. Instead we got direction based on long lingering shots of Elizabeth Debecki in various states of undress (odd for a female Director to do) and Hiddleston's supposedly smoldering eyes. Action shots were generally handled well but the party scenes just had that hideous feel of British thespians having a jolly good time rather than receiving tight direction.
The BBC is now under serious competition in the quality drama stakes. The Crown is a great example of what the BBC used to produce but now the independents have stolen their thunder. If the BBC wants to do more Bond style drama then it needs its creatives to be tougher with each other on what is needed to deliver quality output. -
narang-gitika3 February 2017The show does have its moments, thanks to great actors and fabulous locations - but it doesn't connect logically. How every woman seems to reveal their spouse's secrets to Tom Hiddleston in five minutes (and fall head over heels in love, with no self-preservation) is beyond me. What rich tycoon remembers the name of a manager at a resort an year after meeting him for a day! Olivia Colman's pregnancy is just odd. The story line seems oddly stitched together - with many plot holes.
The only good thing is the series is pretty short; had it been any longer these inconsistencies would have been too glaring!
PS: Tom Hiddleston swanky walk (as if he owns every place) - just doesn't add up to the character. -
A very lavish production like The Night Manager should have done a serious effort and try to go beyond the usual Bondesque hero-vs.-ruthless-baddie and rescue-the-girl story. The beautiful cinematography and the exotic locations don't save the show from sounding so untrue for most of the time. It is a pity that a great actor like Hugh Laurie ends up with such a cliché villain. And Tom Hiddleston's character is particularly unconvincing, I'm afraid, though he tries his best to make it appealing. It would have been a great show in 1965.
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quincytheodore23 February 2016Suave, confident and sexy, "The Night Manager" offers a spy thriller from an interesting perspective, the hotelier's. Often neglected and barely visible, it's quite the dynamic take on a thriller protagonist. Both Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie carry themselves well, it's a delight to see them trade banters at TV mini0series while the visual takes full advantage of the exotic locations.
Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is a manager of a hotel who either unluckily or serendipitously comes across sensitive material about certain dealings. As usual of smooth espionage a lady is involved, however this situation escalates further against their interests. Meanwhile, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), a philanthropist and alleged party concerning the shady dealing eventually meets with Jonathan.
This is a high stake cat-and-mouse game, and in a sense Jonathan is hiding is open view where he casually has mild conversations with people who might or might not be hostile. There's a sense of dread at play, fascinatingly so, even at simple tasks of daily housekeeping. It builds up anticipations whether Jonathan would be exposed or not, while Roger is charismatically imposing as Hugh Laurie demands every spotlight when he is present.
Visual is not only limited to beautiful people, it spans into various engaging scenery. It relocates with incredibly fast pace either, wasting no step in showcasing the lovely ambiance. The trademark BBC setting of clean and smooth vistas, as seen on Sherlock, is visibly present. Contest of wit between Loki and House is already a delightful spectacle, having enthralling environment as the battleground is a brilliant investment from the production.
Trailing for secrets beneath the sand and snow, presented with the appeal rivaling Bond's, "The Night Manager" delivers excitement beyond the job description.