Movie #1921 "Little Fires Everywhere" (Hulu) -- limited series. I really enjoyed this limited series, and there was so much to like. First, the cast was very strong in the acting from Kerry Washington as Mia and Reese Witherspoon as the matriarch of the family. All the kids were more than capable, as well. A special shout out to Izzie --- I just couldn't take my eyes off of her --- she was that good! Then, the Shaker Heights location shooting --- the Big house on fire in the opening and the smaller, cheaper housing that Mia and her daughter were living in --- all were beautifully found and shot so well to get across the descriptions in the equally good book written by Ng.(our book club read it, and I highly recommend it, too). I overall liked how the movie followed the book --- however, I felt the movie gave more time to some lesser characters and less time to some of the bigger characters to make the performances pretty even here, except for the two lead women. So as a result, I didn't feel as close to Lexie as I did after I read the book --- and I felt closer to Izzie and Trip. Trip was more of a jerk, as I remember him, because we didn't spend as much time with him in the book as we did in the film. (the book was divided up in people's different pints of view) Then, there is the matter of the ending which is a bit changed from the book ---- and it deals with the opening fire, so I am not giving anything away here. I can see why there was a change (added more dramatic tension, gave more for the actors to do, etc.) , but for those of us who read the book, I don't think the characters in the family would have done what they did at the end of the movie. But then the addition of the fantasy ending for Izzie in the movie was a good change to me because it seemed more of a deserving end for her wonderful character. In both the movie and the book, the conflict with the Eurasian woman who had given up her baby vs. the caucasian woman who has raised the child her first year was a tough conflict. I found it equally difficult to take sides clearly on that issue in both the book and movie--- the issue demanded a lot of thought by the viewer and hopefully some discussion on the matter in their homes (and this sheltering is offering us that time, so this is a fitting watch during this pandemic) Not to mention the immigration issue pops up, and so many other "little fires" everywhere that we find the need to put out and deal with in life. All around, and excellent show and I highly recommend : 4.5 out of 5. (there were just a couple of soap opera moments I could have done without and would have wanted to know more about Mia's past life - there was more info in the book, as I recall)
"Little Fires Everywhere" 8 episodes , about 50 minutes each 2020
Based on Celeste Ng's 2017 bestseller, "Little Fires Everywhere" follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment