Appropriate Adult [DVD]

Fascinating drama. Excellent performances from Dominic West and Emily Watson. There has been a lot of criticism of Janet Leach, not least by her own son, I don't think this drama painted her in glory, I think the drama showed just how difficult it was for her to cope with the indescribable horror and immensely difficult situation she was placed within for which let's face it, no one could have been prepared for. I would have liked to had more information about what happened to her own legal case.
This drama was compelling but uncomfortable viewing and was very thought provoking about the impact the case has had on all of those involved, who but for this drama, you would never have thought about.
I applaud the actors involved, it was a fantastic piece of drama and has haunted me since I watched it.

I guess most people are familiar with Fred and Rosemary West and perhaps have memories of TV footage of their garden being dug up as more and more bodies were unearthed. This DVD reconstructs all that.
At the time I tuned out after a while it all seemed so over the top it was like the stuff of movies, now it IS a movie.

This DVD is especially interesting and compelling because as the title suggests, it is told from the point of view of the Appropriate Adult. In case, like me, you are not quite sure what that means, it is a person called in by the police to attend interviews with suspects, when the suspect in question has issues of some kind such as learning difficulties.

This is Janet's first case as an Appropriate Adult, and what a case she gets landed with. Emily Watson puts in a thrilling performance, not sure that Fred West has learning difficulties he certainly has problems so enormous it seems impossible that a man could act like that, but West is shown as a MAN the film does not make a point of monstering him up, his derangement is revealed slowly and cleverly. Janet is alternately shocked and almost at the same time beguiled by West. Dominic West portrays his namesake Fred as highly manipulative and controlling of women. At the same time he suggests this enormous indifference and minimising of the agony and suffering he has caused to his victims..totally chilling.
The most scary character however is Rose West not much time on screen but every second she is there she is evil personified.

In case you don't know how this ends, for spoiler reasons I won't say but you may well feel it is suitable result for Fred. Not a feel good movie or a girls night in DVD but thought provoking and absorbing

This is an ITV made production based on the true life account of what happened in the case of Fred and Rose West. In 1994 the UK was rocked by the revelations of the married couple who turned out to be sadistic torturers and serial killers; this is part of that tragic story.

The film opens up in February of 1994, as the Gloucester Police close in with a warrant to search the West's' home at 25, Cromwell Street (the house became so notorious that it had to be demolished). Rose fears discovery and calls Fred to tell him that they have to put their plan into operation. Fred West is initially arrested because of the disappearance of his daughter. The police feel that he is `not the full shilling' as we used to say, and so decide they need an appropriate adult to advise him and see that fair play is done. As it is the weekend they can't get anyone but Janet Leach (played brilliantly by Emily Watson) is a trainee social worker and has done the training and is available. She thinks she has to sit in on someone with learning disabilities. She is clearly shocked as Fred starts to fess up to the murder and dismemberment of his own child.

The legal position of an `appropriate adult' entails professional confidence and as such anything he tells her in private, she can not relay to the police. Janet also has to deal with her common law husband who is so bi-polar that he is on lithium. As the relationship or more rightly dependency that Fred has on her develops, the more of her time is taken up by being there for him and the more her family suffer. Whilst he maintains that Rose is innocent, he starts to open up to Janet knowing it will go no further.

The death toll rises as more body parts are found, and the tension through out is palpable. A word on Monica Dolan who plays Rose West, she was shockingly realistic and steals absolutely every scene she is in. That may because she is portraying such a monster, or just that she is ruddy good, genuinely scary. Fed played by Dominic West, (he got that part to save on the cost of the titles because he has the same surname as his on screen character - only joking ITV) comes across almost as a victim, he clearly has issues and is almost vulnerable, this is exacerbated by his need for approval from a woman and in the absence of his prostitute wife, he turns to Janet.

This was a two part programme on ITV (Independent Television) and is a credit that they are producing quality programmes that we would normally associate with the BBC. Director Julian Jarrold is one to watch if he can do such a production for the small screen, then he has clear potential. It runs to 140 minutes but will have you gripped all the way through. My only gripe is that there was so much more `story' to tell, but that is for another time, a seriously good effort.