Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
West coast gothic, 15 Nov 2008
One of the best adaptations of a novel that I have ever seen. The 1996 BBC recreation for the small screen of Iain Banks' darkly brilliant gothic work really stands up superbly 12 years on.
Featuring a strong cast including Bill Paterson, Peter Capaldi and Joe McFadden as the male half of the McHoan clan who live on the beautiful Argyll coast in their rambling country house.The storyline focuses on missing uncle Rory who never returned from a sojourn abroad and the rivalry between the writer brothers (Paterson and Capaldi) mainly instigated by elder brother Kenneth (Paterson) who never quite forgives younger Rory (Capaldi) for getting into print first before he disappears into the wide blue yonder. The McHoan sister is married to the charming but sinister 'Uncle Fergus' who lives in baronial splendor in his stunning castle on the shores of a mysterious dark loch.
Death is never far away from the central character, young Prentice (McFadden)..Kenneth's son who witnesses a series of family and friends die in usually tragic circumstances.
Sensitive soul that he is.He can't accept his fiercely atheistic father's brutal philosophical acceptance of these deaths and seeks answers.Just why does everyone he loves keep dying ? On top of this Prentice has to suffer further trauma as he watches older smarter brother played by Dougray Scott make a name for himself as a stand up comic and steal the girl of his wildest dreams-Verity- from under his nose !
Aided by the beautiful Ash his platonic girlfriend who happens to be a wizz with computers, Prentice gradually peels away the multitude of dark layers hiding the truth.
Beautifully,filmed acted and set.The whole 4 part series builds up to a powerful conclusion !
I had the pleasure of staying at Ardpatrick House on the Knapdale Peninsular where much of the Crow Road was filmed. Ardpatrick stood in for the McHoan family home. It was a wonderful experience and certainly enhanced a memorable drama experience.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb drama, 15 Aug 2009
The Crow Road is essentially a story about growing up. But while most productions on this theme tend to be mawkish, the Crow Road is a brilliantly suspenseful, moving drama mixing elements of murder mystery, comedy, tragedy, love, sex and faith. The series comprises 4 hour-long episodes that follow Prentice McHoan, a young lad brought up by his father to question things in life. So when friends and family start dying, his older brother steals off with the woman of his dreams, and his beloved Uncle Rory goes missing, Prentice starts casting round for answers. Is there some spiritual meaning to all these people leaving him or is there a more human, and sinister, reason? Aided by his old friend Ashley Watt and imaginary visitations from the missing Rory, Prentice tries to solve the McHoan mysteries.
The acting here is superb, particularly from Bill Paterson. The story skips deftly between the present, Prentice's younger days, and even the childhood of his father and uncles, allowing the relationships between the characters to be fully realised and making it all the more heartbreaking when they break down. The extras don't amount to much unfortunately, with the audio commentary from the director and other crew a bit dry. Some contribution here from the charismatic cast (including such faces as Peter Capaldi, and even Supergran!) would have helped. Quite how this TV series compares with the book it's based on I don't know as I haven't read it but here's the author Iain Banks' opinion: "annoyingly better than the book in far too many places". There you go. Do watch this.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The story of Rory, 5 Oct 2009
This is a very watchable and enjoyable adaptation of Iain Banks excellent novel. Set in the Scottish highlands, it centres on student Prentice McHoan (Joseph McFadden) and his quest to find what happened to his Uncle Rory who set off out on his motor bike one day many years before, and never returned.
Asked by his grandmother (who subsequently met her maker falling through the conservatory!) to solve the mystery, the young man delves into writer Rory's past with only a pile of computer printouts and a couple of 8 inch floppy discs as clues. Struggling for leads, he finally fixes the ancient computer that can read the afore-mentioned disks and delves into the family secrets. In Rory's words, he uncovers tales of jealousy, infidelity and skulduggery that push him on obsessively to solve the mystery, neglecting his studies and everything else in the process. When struggling for inspiration, Uncle Rory (Peter Capaldi) himself appears Jacob Marley style, to give him a cryptic pointer or reprimand him for sleeping with his girlfriend!
This is great stuff, a slow burner that is not all about the mystery of Rory's dissapearance though he is the glue that holds the story together. Prentice's other obsession for the beautiful Verity proves to be an equal distraction on the poor man's life as well as his ongoing strife with his dad (Bill Patterson) who believes Rory is still alive and can prove it.
It's a little bit dated now and as mentioned a little slow in parts (think Midsomer, not CSI) but the cast and script are excellent in this. More Scottish than a haggis at hogmanay, there's plenty of mountains, kilts, whisky and castles in the four parts to provide a great backdrop to a quirky, witty and intriguing story.
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