4/5
Plays A Blinder.
6 Episodes. Starring: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Natasha O'Keeffe, Finn Cole, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham & Tom Hardy. Created By: Steven Knight.
Back home in sunny Southport (whose dunes were used to film an iconic Season 4 finale scene by the beach), we have two picture perfect 'Peaky Blinders' bars. Bouncers complete with caps you don't want to mess with. And more than enough cocky wide boys throughout this town that think posting a quote with Cillian Murphy in the background on their social channels makes them the next Tommy Shelby (no sir. Not me...promise). But it's all good. You know a show is good when it inspires this type of loyalty. Usually everyone thinks they're the Joker. Here in Japan it has taken a little longer for the final season of Peaky's (six) to make its way here in the Far East before the movies that come next, tipping their cap to the true peaked finale. So apologies for getting in on this deal late. Now Netflix has locked up its Shelby clan loyalty between penultimate seasons of 'Stranger Things' and new ones of their 'Umbrella Academy'. Not to mention the last crime down the line for 'Ozark'. Like the BBC showing the curtain to 'Killing Eve' and Idris Elba's 'Luther'. His tweed coat as iconic as a Peaky's cap is also getting the British Broadcasting Corporation big-screen treatment, now he's sang his small-screen series swan song. But who will the classic bell theme toll for in this blinding, crowing season from Steven Knight?
Tommy with a Tommy has his own 'Point Break' moment, losing it in his garden. And can you blame him? He thought he washed his troubles down the sink with that last shot of whiskey, but he's taking on too much water. Murphy's law and all that. Death is becoming him like a gypsy curse and there's hell to pay in his new theatre of playing politics. And to think he thought that would have helped him go straight. This is just his type of racquet. Now bespectacled and in Churchill's pocket, Tommy is campaigning for the Labour Party, but must get into bed with Nazi's if he really wants to bring these fascists down. And you thought your constituency was bad. Still, when you look at the mop that's just been wrung out of Downing Street, let me say this. Tommy Shelby for number 10. Yes, Prime Minister. In this house of cards with everything falling around him. '28 Days Later', 'Interstellar' and 'The Dark Knight's' Scarecrow is just too good at compellingly capturing this all, even with his arms length friends close and enemies closer stance. Taking no s### in the trenches no matter how much mud is on his face as this war hero with 'Dunkirk' tours of duty earns his stripes. Recently bearded and bedraggled in 'A Quiet Place Part II', Cillian showed his range with as few words as humanely trying to survive an alien apocalypse as possible. Here he reminds us he's a cut above the rest when he shaves and dons the UK's most popular haircut at the moment. Despite its main purpose being for lice prevention. You can never be too careful.
Birmingham boils with brooding brimstone ready to bite the bullet in the sixth and one of the best seasons of the show. Grace is gone, as our some brothers in arms. And we've had accented villains to boot, from Adrien Brody's mob man to the instantly quotable Sam Neill for everything the New Zelander and 'Jurassic Park' legend says in that Irish accent. But speaking of accents. Thick as thieves it's Paul Anderson and that 'stache and slicked back hair that steals the show. Just like the time he was gunning for Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Moriarty's shooter in 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows'. Even strung out (what's new?) Arthur is still a man of substance (no pun intended). Making us want to take a hit everytime he says "TOMMY" that way. Nothing has been finer since he lovingly declared to a toast that his Linda was and I quote, "up the swanny." But even with two powerhouse pivotal scenes with Tommy by the barrel that we simply can't spoil, it's one with someone from the 'Line Of Duty' turning his needle and the damage done into potent poetry. We forgot the man that's in everything, from 'Taboo' to 'The Irishman' in those shorts that pissed off Pacino, Stephen Graham was a guest star on this show this time around (delays and all that). And when he came bounding in with a footy on the Liverpool docks like he was just at the Kop for a kick-about, we were nothing but smiles. But what he said next, is the kind of thing that breaks a man. Even one in the gutter. Possibly making him again. And making Stephen the biggest name of the guests welcome here. Featuring, an underused, but understated Sam Claflin, clapping back. Tom Hardy living again like his sweetest 'Taboo'. And the 'Queens Gambit' of megastar Anya Taylor-Joy (perfection for this period) making more moves like this was her 'Last Night In Soho'. Playing her husbands puppet strings like she was the Godfather as Finn Cole (so good as a young John Cena (yeah, you read that right) in whatever the number of the latest 'Fast and Furious' movie is) has a score to settle and moustache to shave. But for all the evil the men do here. It's the women who roll up their sleeves and get it done once again. Sophia Rundle yet again being the smartest person in the room at all times. Yet it's the bruised and aching soul of Natasha O'Keeffe that's the heart of this show that sometimes seems devoid of one, even if it plays with those empire notions of family like a Corleone. But we all know who's truly missing and missed forever more. The late, great Helen McCrory, who of course played Polly. Her shocking and saddening death left a hole in much more than this show. Cillian's face says it all. And that's no act. But the writers and actors treat her passing with dignity and beauty in respect. Still as her wagon burns in the opening episode's funeral and we see her haunting portrait, her spirit stays with us throughout this season and the reason this family keeps going. This is for Helen. Rest peacefully. And as this show makes it's last stand on the small screen, bigger things await. It's not over. Don't you despair, we've still got the movie to go. By order of the Peaky f###### Blinders! TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'Luther', 'Killing Eve', 'Taboo'.
No comments:
Post a Comment