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BAFTA glory surely beckons for this well-produced adaptation of the Booker Prize-nominated book Any Human Heart but, as with most award-friendly dramas, the entertainment was not of as high a standard as the production values.
The opening episode introduced the audience to Logan Mountstuart, who was played by 3 different actors. Sam Claflin played the youngest incarnation in his final days at Oxford and launching his career as an author; Matthew MacFadyen was the middle-aged Logan, whose writing career was struggling and who embarked on an affair with Freya (the delectable Hayley Atwell). The oldest Logan was portrayed by Jim Broadbent, who had very little screen time in this episode.
The largest problem with Any Human Heart can be found in the previous paragraph. The 3 actors chosen to play the lead role have as much in common as Albert Einstein and Wayne Rooney. The age gap between Claflin and MacFadyen was far too severe with only a few years supposed to have passed onscreen, while there appeared to be a 20 year gap between the 2 actors. Moreover, while MacFadyen was very good, he always has the same slightly awkward mannerisms with every role he plays, and these just weren’t present in Claflin’s performance. Similarly, Jim Broadbent is always Jim Broadbent, who brought his usual eccentricities to a character that did not seem to have any.
That said, this can be overlooked without too much difficulty, as the plot was engaging enough to distract from the casting faults, with a nice dash of amusement along the way. However, the inclusion of celebrities of the time seemed a bit gratuitous and pretentious, with Ernest Hemingway and Ian Fleming making brief appearances, along with Scully... no, sorry, Gillian Anderson as Wallace Simpson. Apart from Simpson, who is set to play a larger part in the episodes to come, was there a need for the inclusion of these celebrities? No doubt they appear in the book, but were they essential for the adaptation?
Here lies another major problem with Any Human Heart: it felt too much like an adaptation. This was particularly apparent with Logan’s voiceover, which seemed like descriptions from the book had been copied and pasted into the script. Similarly, there were times when cutting would have helped, with the second half in particular sagging slightly. Also, the number of sex scenes was ridiculous, with several occurring in the first 20 minutes alone. While these scenes weren’t gratuitous, there did seem to be more than was needed; it was shown on Sunday night after all!
It feels like I have slated Any Human Heart in every possible way, so I just want to make clear that it was a solid, entertaining drama that is worth watching, but there are just too many flaws for me to say anything more than that. Yes, the production was fantastic, the period detail was exquisite and the unconventional camera shots ensured it was anything but mundane. However, such shots were not always needed and it meant that, for a drama with the word ‘heart’ in the title, there was a remarkable lack of it on show.
See Any Human Heart on Channel 4 for the next 3 Sundays at 9pm.
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