A Married Man (Mini-Series)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: B

 

 

Anthony Hopkins is now a big motion picture and stage star, but he had a more interesting run in television projects than you might think.  A Married Man (1983) is a still impressive mini-series about barrister John Strickland (Hopkins) who is bored with his life, his marriage and profession.  This is demonstrated by the way he handles a case in the opening.  In the course of the 255 intriguing minutes, he decides to have an affair, consider running as a Socialist and the fallout is totally convincing.

 

Besides the usually fine performance from Hopkins, the teleplay by Derek Marlow (based on the Piers Paul Read novel) is exceptionally intelligent and literate.  The rest of the cast, including Ciaran Madden, Tracy Childs, Clive Francis and even Julian Sands makes this a grossly overlooked work.  It even has a few more twists.  Of course, Hopkins is the lead and his character’s transitions in all this are totally realistic and convincing in a way you would never see in most feature films and male lead performances today.  Even if you don’t believe in Socialism, you’ll believe in Hopkins.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is a little softer and fuzzier than one would like, but this is passably watchable otherwise.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is not bad for its age with dialog clear enough to enjoy the performances.  The only extras are text information on the cast, crew, a weblink and a bit more text on Hopkins.  The main program is more than enough to justify picking this one up, despite any technical shortcomings.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo