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Secrets & Lies (US): reviews

"Fairly familiar turf," say US critics about the US adaptation of TEN's miniseries, many noting Broadchurch did it better.

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Reviews for the US adaptation of TEN’s Secrets and Lies find some consensus, mostly, that Ryan Phillippe is watchable in the lead role.

But they also describe it as falling short of Broadchurch.

In addition to a gender switch in detectives, the US version is longer, at 10 episodes rather than 6.

The biggest secret of all none has alluded to is that the original version was a flop too.

Hope they get a better ending than we did…

Variety:
Better than “Gracepoint” and not as compelling as “Broadchurch,” ABC’s “Secrets and Lies” is a solid, twisty version of the increasingly popular murdered-kid-sets-series-in-motion formula, with Ryan Phillippe as the seemingly ordinary family man who discovers the body and quickly becomes a target of police suspicion. Juliette Lewis lends additional star power to the proceedings as the detective working the case, but this is fairly familiar turf. Bringing viewers to the show will likely be a challenge for the network, but those who do sample the opening hours should be intrigued enough to want to see where the trail leads.

Hollywood Reporter:
As the title suggests, nothing is what it seems on the surface and another eight episodes will twist this story in various directions (though if I had to guess, I’d say I already know who the killer is). With a strong cast (Lewis and Phillippe in particular), the buy-in here is easy. Whether it can reach the creative heights of, say, Broadchurch, which has a similar story, remains to be seen.

NY Times:
The series, which is based on an Australian one, may have similarities to “Broadchurch” but doesn’t remotely aspire to that show’s depth; the unremarkable characters are all refugees from a daytime soap opera. Yet despite all that, viewers who like a certain amount of predictability in their mysteries could easily find themselves losing 10 hours to “Secrets and Lies.” Far more substantive shows are available on Sunday nights, of course, but maybe some people are just looking for a nontaxing way to pass the time until the summer beach reading hits the shelves.

USA Today:
Even if you accept that Ben would be a suspect, why would he seemingly be the only one, and why would Cornell make her suspicions so apparent? Stranger still, why would the entire neighborhood turn on this “normal” looking family man rather than seek out some stranger who more closely fits our stereotypical view of a murderer? And in what American neighborhood are all the neighbors perpetually on their stoops or at their windows watching? It’s yet another situation Broadchurch handled much better, allowing its murderer to hide in plain sight because it knew neither we nor the townspeople would suspect him.

Boston Herald:
One twist at the close of the first hour is so obvious, anyone who can’t anticipate it probably needs a week to watch “48 Hours.” Phillippe is in almost every scene, and he’s solid, if dull. Strickland gives a nuanced performance, but no one else is in her league. If “Secrets and Lies” adheres to its Down Under story, brace yourself for a depressing resolution. Suffer the children indeed.

Daily News:
As the two principals the series depends on, Phillippe and Lewis aren’t particularly compelling. Ben appears too guilty to begin with. He, like everyone in the community, has secrets, but Phillippe does little to make Ben more than a shady suspect. Lewis seems determined to make Cornell oddly memorable but just makes her seem odd. Not having seen the original, it’s hard to compare the two series, but the American version seems bloated. Shockers are tossed out here and there, but there is little connective tissue in the story. “Secrets & Lies” may somehow focus itself, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

TV Media Insights:
Phillippe is adequate as the show’s lead star, yet his role, along with the rest of characters, exudes a big disconnect. We get that Crawford’s innocence is questionable, at best, but it is unclear if it is worth spending our time figuring out if it truly is so. The episode even featured a scene where Crawford inquired to his wife and two daughters why they haven’t been more affected by the boy’s death since the boy had often stayed at their house. If they don’t seem to care, why should we?

The Wrap:
Will you care about this group of upscale suburban neighbors? Probably not. Will you be pulled into their web of interconnected secrets and lies? Possibly. Will you be treated to various shots of brooding Ryan Phillippe jogging, sweating and showing off his aforementioned abs? Definitely. Is that enough to keep you watching? Maybe.

17 Responses

  1. Have to agree with the previous comment. Perhaps, David you can clarify what you meant by “Hope they get a better ending than we did”? The ending seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

      1. The ending was a big disappointment and that should be addressed in the remake. The Australian series tried the amateurs trick of planting a few red herrings so when the actual reveal came not only was it totally unexpected it was completely implausible. As if. You must properly prepare the audience for that outcome otherwise they wont buy it.

  2. Also I would expect this to flop massively in the ratings on the American ABC. Other detective/generic type shows like Backstrom have flopped heavily this season while original premises like Empire and HTGAWM have been huge hits.

  3. Gracepoint was actually really good, it gets way too much hate on the Internet. The guy who played Nick (Danny’s dad) on Gracepoint was a fantastic actor, as was the woman who played Beth. And David Tennant was great on this show as well. There were also differences in plot on both shows so they weren’t carbon copies. One example being the priest having a crush on Beth in high school (this was never in Broadchurch), another being a character getting kidnapped/lost in episode seven that didn’t happen in the original.

    Anyway…the original Secrets and Lies sucked, a shame because I liked seeing a show filmed in Brisbane. Will check out the remake. Ryan Phillipe did a good job playing a WikiLeaks type website founder in Damages season five

  4. I sometimes wonder about the US development execs who cannot identify a US originated murder-mystery and need to “buy in” the quite simple ideas at the core of dramas like Secrets and Lies and The Slap. I do, however, understand the temptation to re-make the high concept ideas at the core of Wilfred, Les Revenents etc. Hopefully this new S&L has benefitted from the US process.

  5. Not sure why US networks attempt to remake shows from other countries, they alway turn out to be a big flop I.e Gracepoint, Rake & currently The Slap.

  6. “The biggest secret of all none has alluded to is that the original version was a flop too”.
    Exactly. It was written by children for children and dressed up as adult contemporary drama. Of course any adaptation of it wasn’t going to be able to hold a candle to an adaptation of Broadchurch (altho’ that was also not without faults).

    I think there’s a saying about polishing a turd which may be applicable here.

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