SummaryA 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana begins with Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) joining the search in this eight-episode anthology series.
SummaryA 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana begins with Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) joining the search in this eight-episode anthology series.
The dialogue is rich, colorful and provocative, adding to the gothic sensibilities of the series. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga makes great use of the Louisiana location, giving it as much importance to the story as the characters of Cohle and Hart. All the performances are superb, but those of McConaughey and Harrelson are in a class by themselves.
The acting--by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson--is off the charts. The writing and the concept, by series creator and novelist Nic Pizzolatto, undulates from effectively brash soliloquies to penetratingly nuanced moments carried by sparse prose. Lastly, director Cary Joji Fukunaga has created a beautiful, sprawling sense of place (the series is shot and set in Louisiana).
[Novelist Joe Pizzolatto and director Cary Joji Fukunaga's] cohesive viewpoint helped me to forgive True Detective for some of its rougher spots, and the poetic visuals undoubtedly strengthened the most effective aspects of the drama.
At its wildest moments, the series feels as frighteningly nervy and furious in its delivery and intent as prime David Lynch. More times than not, however, it defers to an earnest, rote view of bad religion, only marginally enlivened by the appearance of Shea Whigham as a big-tent preacher.
Whatever the length of the show’s much admired tracking shot (six minutes, uncut!), it feels less hardboiled than softheaded. Which might be O.K. if True Detective were dumb fun, but, good God, it’s not: it’s got so much gravitas it could run for President.
The rather banal hunt for a particularly deranged serial killer is not what drives this series, which is basically a character study of the two cops investigating the case and the development of their relationship during 17 years.
"Character study" can be the kiss of death in a cop story, but here we have two interesting personalities. Especially Rust Cohle, the character played by McConaughey. Cohle is a pessimist cop with a nihilist approach to life. He thinks that most of humankind is trash, an idea probably shared by most cops, but he is extremely clever and articulated in expressing his opinions. He speaks in an annoyingly low, flat monotone, uttering long and complex sentences that exasperate his colleague Marty Hart, played by Harrelson.
Sadly enough, Cohle may have a good point. However, his wisdom, fundamental decency and dedication to his work do not bring him any satisfaction. Despite understanding well the flaws of humankind, Cohle is leading a depressing life, like the people he despises.
Hart is a more conventional character, but his "normality" plays well against Cohle weirdness. It is ironic how Cohle and Hart coming from different places at the beginning of their collaboration are shown as living in the exact same way at the end: lonely and alone.
Unfortunately quite a few things do not work in the show. Among which, the need to explain Cohle nihilism with a personal tragedy, as if his misanthropic nature needed to be rationalised. Then, almost all the women in the story are ****, stupid and needy. Several young and extremely hot girls throw themselves at Hart, which is weird since he is not that attractive. Many others are for sale or would be, if not too old for business. Even Hart wife, played by Monaghan in the only female role of minimal substance, seems able to use only her sexuality to prove some sort of point.
Finally, the monotone used by McConaughey, although effective to prove the emotional flat-line of his character, is extremely annoying and almost inaudible. Effective in the first episode, by the time I reached the last I could not stand it anymore.
Eventually, this is a show where men use their brains and end up as heroes and women use their sexuality and end up – as usual – as victims.
Curious about my 3 out of 10 rating? No, its not a joke, read on.
There are so many things wrong with True Detective as a tv drama. Let's begin with raising some important questions that define a show. Who are the characters? True Detective has unique, original characters that are well defined, interesting and well-developed. Are those characters likeable? No. No they are not. Matthew McCaughnahey plays an anti-social introverted, depressed anarchistic rogue of a detective who is painted to be brilliant at what he does. But he never does anything ... that anyone else with a badge couldn't do. And listening to his crazy ramblings about how people ****, and why everyone ****, is amusing at first, but serves no point and gets old really quick. Woody Harrolson plays a more normal, cheerful detective. Who we soon discover is cheating on his wife, treats her poorly, has a big ego and looks down on others. Now I understand that not all characters have to be saints, and likeable in every way, but these two are the main characters, the protagonists of a weekly series. If you can't understand why they do things, and support and get behind them, then what can you do?
Next question. Why do we care? Well, True Detective is a short series about these two detectives solving one case. It jumps back and forth between the past and the present, as they had thought they solved the case, but maybe they got it wrong. Is this interesting? Well, it could be, but its not, and it's really quite pointless. Now, if you're going to have an entire series dedicated to solving one case -- shouldn't that case at least be interesting? Yes it should, and is it? Well, parts of it are -- the art director does a good job with the Hannibal-like crime scenes, unlike hannibal, where we get to see the minds of the killers, and delve into their delusions and philosophys and learn what makes them tick. We don't learn anything about this killer. Why does he do it? All we're given is the murder scenes, and they aren't so original that they make us want to see more of them. By the end of the series we do learn the killers movie. Spoiler, his motive is that he's a crazy killer. Dissapointing? Yes, I think so. If you're going to go through the trouble of artistic, satanic ritual killings, shouldn't you at least have a motive for doing so? Yes... you should. So now we are devoting an entire show about 2 detectives whom we dont like, solving a boring case by a killer with no purpose.
Next Question. Is it exciting? No. Actually, its quite the opposite. a 60 minute series airing with no commercials, True Detective has all the non-stop suspenseful action of a Bus Stop in the Grand Canyon, during the winter. It moves at SNAIL pace... and NOTHING happens... and when something does happen, ITS NOT INTERESTING. You can fast forward through McCaughnahey's rambles, and Harrolson's extramarital discressions, and what are you left with? A weak show, with no action, and no intelligence to support its strong cast and well-written script.
I don't recommend this show, to anyone.
Who am I? Why should you listen to what I have to say?
Well, I have been watching TV dramas since 1998, and have thus far seen
188 dramas from start to finish. Over 10,000 hours of TV. Including shows from other countries.
I've seen more TV, likely, than anyone you know, and anyone they know. So I may just be some guy, but I'm not speaking from my ass with this review. I do know what I'm talking about. And I DONT LIKE TRUE DETECTIVE. And Niether should you. Watch Hannibal instead.
It kills me to write a mixed review, given how rare it is to find such a well-written show anywhere on television. The acting is superb, and everyone's rightly praising Matthew McConaughey (though I get so distracted by his reliance on puffing away on cigarettes - I'd love to see him do the role without them.) Woody Harrelson is every bit as good, in a less 'dramatic", less darkly philosophical role. Which brings me to my two problems. One: It takes itself way too seriously. Never mind plot points that are completely ludicrous, which we're not supposed to question because this is SERIOUS. Look, even Shakespeare's tragedies were leavened with a dash of humor now & then! Second: If I were a woman, I'd be horrified by how women are portrayed here. I've kept on watching, but that first episode couldn't get enough of those grotesque shots of a desecrated dead woman from behind .... And what about the ones who aren't dead? Hysterics, nags and hookers. Someone else here said HBO needs some female feedback. I'll second that.