Forget its curious pedigree. 'Gracepoint,' a smoldering drama about a homicide in a small California beach town, is pretty good television.
The series, which begins Thursday night on Fox, is a remake of the British show 'Broadchurch,' a fine series and big hit in Britain that was shown last year on BBC America. (A second 'Broadchurch' season is now in the works.) Yes, it's unusual to remake such a recent show, but what's more unusual is that 'Gracepoint' has the same male lead, David Tennant.
Naturally, a new sport has arisen among people who write about television comparing the two series, with the American version generally coming up short because British television is always better than American television, isn't it? And sure, if you want to go there, something about 'Gracepoint' underscores the story's clichés: the outsider trying to crash an insular community, the damaged cop getting a new start, the warring-partners version of police work, the Machiavellian newspaper reporter conceit.
But the universe of viewers who saw 'Broadchurch' and will watch 'Gracepoint' is fairly small and, anyway, if you have enough spare time to sit through the same story twice to compare nuances and accents and plot variations, you are to be pitied. Let's talk about people who know nothing of 'Broadchurch.' Will Fox, which has been having a rough fall season, catch their interest with 'Gracepoint'?
It should, because Mr. Tennant (here playing an American) and Anna Gunn of 'Breaking Bad' pair quite well as clashing investigators looking into the death of a boy whose body turns up on the beach in the titular community. The opening minutes of the premiere are made to grab you quickly and tightly, and they do, thanks especially to convincing work by Virginia Kull as a mother who slowly realizes her son is missing and then, when she hears that a body has been found, puts two and two together.
For viewers long accustomed to crime-of-the-week pacing, 'Gracepoint,' a 10-episode series, will require a recalibration: Expect an assortment of characters, a lot of suspects, a slow unfolding of the investigation and the back stories. It's a crime novel more than 'Law & Order.'
That puts a lot of weight on the actors, especially the two leads. As the series opens, Ms. Gunn's character, Detective Ellie Miller, is just back from vacation and anticipating a promotion. Instead, she bops into the office to the news that an interloper, Mr. Tennant's Emmett Carver, has been given the job she was expecting.
So she is predisposed not to like him, a template used way too often in police procedurals. Heavy TV watchers might be forgiven if they assume there are only two kinds of law enforcement figures: dueling cops and Keystone Kops. Where is the silent majority, all those officers who are reasonably competent and get along reasonably well? Not on television, certainly.
At least 'Gracepoint' breaks the mold by not having the polar-opposite partners quickly learn to respect each other and bond under the pressure and adrenaline of a big case. Several episodes in, she still hates him, and he still treats her (and the rest of the townspeople) callously.
A nicely muted scene in Episode 2 highlights just how differently Emmett and Ellie view small-town police work. She is protective of her longtime acquaintances (her son was the dead boy's best friend), while he urges her to suspect everyone.
Him: 'Anybody's capable of murder, given the right circumstances.'
Her: 'No, most people have a moral compass.'
Him: 'Compasses break.'
Quite a few people in Gracepoint begin to look suspicious as the investigation progresses. Meanwhile, an out-of-town newspaper reporter (Jessica Lucas) is getting a colder shoulder from locals than even Emmett as she noses around. She is also familiar with a previous case on Emmett's résumé, details of which trickle out slowly.
Solid performances (including, in smaller roles, by Nick Nolte and Jacki Weaver) let you overlook a lot of the tropes. If you're in search of a show to curl up with as the weather grows colder, you could do worse.
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, October 2, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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