State Of Mind (British Telefilm)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Telefilm: C+
Paula Milne is a popular female author who has received
critical acclaim for her writing and by association, adaptations. The Kim Basinger feature film I Dreamed
Of Africa (2000) had mixed results but the British Mini-Series The
Politician’s Wife (1995, reviewed elsewhere on this site) fared
better. In all cases, the stories
involve women who have personal crisis while facing larger-than-life ones. State Of Mind (2003) involves
investigator Grace Hazlett (Niamh Cusack) sideswiped by the revelation that her
husband has been cheating on her, has to find out if a husband purposely killed
his wife or had a blackout when he was driving their SUV.
Though the murder segment is laid out well, the shift of
this becomes more melodramatic than expected and that holds back the
investigative aspects too much as a result.
The casting and acting is good, but things become too jumbled for any
aspect of this to thoroughly work. The
material is here, which is all the more reason I was disappointed. The family drama seems like too much padding
to boot. Others might enjoy this
approach, but mystery fans are more likely not to.
The 1.33 X 1 full frame presentation is fairly good, but a
bit soft, though this is how it basically was broadcast originally. Lukas Strebel’s camerawork is fair. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no
surrounds and a very repetitious music score by John Lunn. The only extras are text filmographies of
three of the actors and the TV preview for this telefilm.
- Nicholas Sheffo
