The Hustle – Season 2 (BBC)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
Don’t be
conned out of missing this great series.
The great folks at BBC Television have just exported another intriguing
series to the states. The Hustle – Season 2 is an
interesting, drama/comedy that takes audiences into the life of a group of
London con artists as they hustle and swindle their way into and out of
situations, money being the never ending goal.
The storylines are quick, quick, quick taking the audience on the
rollercoaster ride of the con artist life of schemes, fast talk, and an even
faster life. The cast is charming and
well suited for their parts. Adrian
Lester plays the infamous Michael Stone (better known as Mickey Bricks), Marc
Warren plays Danny Blue, Robert Glenister as Ashley Morgan, Robert Vaughn as
Albert Stroller, and a whole bunch more sly bastards. The characters are all so captivating that it
is hard to not like them and wish you were part of their slick and charismatic
world.
The shooting
of the series is often times interesting using an array of different film
techniques such as unique camera angles, the characters talking right to the
camera, slowing down the action, or even stopping all characters in a scene
except the cons. This different take on
television filming style greatly lends to the fast paced and explosive
atmosphere.
There are
also apparently many, many guest stars on this series, but ignorantly to this
reviewer since they are British personalities it is hard to pinpoint who is
who.
The
technical aspects of this DVD on TV set from BBC are quite nice, as most BBC
recent releases are. The picture is
presented in a clean 1.78 X 1 Anamorphic Widescreen, the series being shot in
HD. The picture often times has a textured
feel that is intentional, but there is the occasional time when the colors seem
off or overly distorted. The sound is a
simple Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo that is adequate for the series but could be
better, since the voices on the rare occurrence feel distant and hard to
understand. The extras are sparse only
having one featurette entitled ‘The Big
Finish,’ which is a little lackluster of a feature for this good series in
this reviewer’s opinion.
Quick
action, quick talking, and quick cons.
This 6-episode, 2-Disc DVD set is full of fun and twisted plots that
always infuse comedy and drama in an optimum balance.
- Michael P Dougherty II
