The original UK series was brilliant but it's American appeal was somewhat limited by the cultural differences. In the parochial, provincial, pedestrian, U.S. of A. it was felt that some translation would allow for a wider appeal. That may be so but we're off to poor start.
One cannot expect an opening scene as iconic as the UK original (a slow pan back from Tony's face revealing his sexy unique bedspread while wordlessly revealing a bit of his enigmatic character) but the U.S. scene is just boring.
The leads in the UK series were brilliant and their U.S. equivalents seem to be inferior copies so far but things may change.
Enough of the original brilliance shines through that I'm willing to give it a few more episodes before I pull the plug.
It's mostly the unrealistic nature of the supporting characters (or more rightly caricatures) that I found so annoying in the first episode. It may well be that their UK doppelgangers were JUST as artificial but my American roots may have missed the nuances.
After initially posting my review , I decided to go back and view the UK and the US versions side by side to see why one was so entertaining and one was so disappointing.
As I said, it starts with the opening scene. James Newman just isn't as pretty as Nicholas Hoult. He doesn't suggest the innocence one would expect to see on the face of an angel, even a fallen one like the original. Also the "naked duo duvet" with Nicholas' face half way between the bodies of the man and the woman in the UK opening sequence was just untoppable. By comparison the spider print is just boring.
Plus there's poor editing in showing Tony's sister in the street outside too early in the sequence. It diverts our attention from making a connection with Tony. That's further hindered by Tony's practicing martial arts... again, not the most innocence evoking images.
My next beef with the American version is that the minor supporting characters come off more as caricatures than in the UK version where they were still comic characters but just not so abysmally over the top.
Next, the gender swapping of Maxxie for Tea may be necessary to cater to American tastes but it robs the idea that the Chris and Abbud are joining the gay character for a night at a gay bar of the sweetness of being supportive friends. The U.S. guys are reduced to just being lechers.
As to the other main characters, there were numerous points where the Amercian version just seemed harder and more self-assured than their Brit counterparts. That makes them just that much harder to empathize with.
Also its the minor things. In the UK version after joining the rich kids party Tony and Michelle dance together. The costumes that they wear are coordinated, until they start dancing, that's not so apparent and its a nice moment. No such moment exists in the U.S. version.
Even the camera angles weren't as artistic. The scene with Cassie being dragged off the trampoline was more evocative than the US equivalent with Cadie.
One cannot expect an opening scene as iconic as the UK original (a slow pan back from Tony's face revealing his sexy unique bedspread while wordlessly revealing a bit of his enigmatic character) but the U.S. scene is just boring.
The leads in the UK series were brilliant and their U.S. equivalents seem to be inferior copies so far but things may change.
Enough of the original brilliance shines through that I'm willing to give it a few more episodes before I pull the plug.
It's mostly the unrealistic nature of the supporting characters (or more rightly caricatures) that I found so annoying in the first episode. It may well be that their UK doppelgangers were JUST as artificial but my American roots may have missed the nuances.
After initially posting my review , I decided to go back and view the UK and the US versions side by side to see why one was so entertaining and one was so disappointing.
As I said, it starts with the opening scene. James Newman just isn't as pretty as Nicholas Hoult. He doesn't suggest the innocence one would expect to see on the face of an angel, even a fallen one like the original. Also the "naked duo duvet" with Nicholas' face half way between the bodies of the man and the woman in the UK opening sequence was just untoppable. By comparison the spider print is just boring.
Plus there's poor editing in showing Tony's sister in the street outside too early in the sequence. It diverts our attention from making a connection with Tony. That's further hindered by Tony's practicing martial arts... again, not the most innocence evoking images.
My next beef with the American version is that the minor supporting characters come off more as caricatures than in the UK version where they were still comic characters but just not so abysmally over the top.
Next, the gender swapping of Maxxie for Tea may be necessary to cater to American tastes but it robs the idea that the Chris and Abbud are joining the gay character for a night at a gay bar of the sweetness of being supportive friends. The U.S. guys are reduced to just being lechers.
As to the other main characters, there were numerous points where the Amercian version just seemed harder and more self-assured than their Brit counterparts. That makes them just that much harder to empathize with.
Also its the minor things. In the UK version after joining the rich kids party Tony and Michelle dance together. The costumes that they wear are coordinated, until they start dancing, that's not so apparent and its a nice moment. No such moment exists in the U.S. version.
Even the camera angles weren't as artistic. The scene with Cassie being dragged off the trampoline was more evocative than the US equivalent with Cadie.
