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- HBO
- Jan 12, 2020
- HBO
- Jan 12, 2020
Summary The adaptation of Stephen King's novel about the investigation into the murder of an 11-year-old boy in the Georgia woods by local police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) and Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), a P.I. he brings in when he becomes unsure about the guilt of his prime suspect.
- HBO
- Jan 12, 2020
- HBO
- Jan 12, 2020
Summary The adaptation of Stephen King's novel about the investigation into the murder of an 11-year-old boy in the Georgia woods by local police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) and Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), a P.I. he brings in when he becomes unsure about the guilt of his prime suspect.
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
68
66% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
34% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
68
66% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
34% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mendelsohn, in particular, is spectacular. ... The Outsider feels different. It feels fresh. It feels unique. It feels like a side of King’s Dominion we haven’t really seen on screen before, and that’s good news for Constant Readers and for HBO.
Its writers and directors massage the tale’s foreboding evenly and with skill, although it takes about three episodes to get it moving. ... Fortunately King’s stories live and breathe through his characters, their interior drives and quirks, which is where Cynthia Erivo’s Holly Gibney enters and almost singlehandedly picks up the inertia holding back “The Outsider” and kicks it loose.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 80 User Ratings
7.4
76% Positive
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
13% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
11% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 80 User Ratings
7.4
76% Positive
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
13% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
11% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
The Outsider’s relative sprawl—10 hours to tackle a nearly 600-page book—affords unusual leeway and breathing room, which Price exploits with intelligence and deft creativity. It also helps that the cast is uniformly excellent.
Given the wildness of the story, The Outsider sometimes feels ludicrously tony, but it’s undeniably gripping—a beach read rendered by real artists. The series is so clever that it might take you a while to realize that it’s essentially Dracula. ... Or, perhaps even more fitting, The Outsider suggests a merging of Kolchak with Price’s The Night Of.
The details pile up, but intrigue fails to mount.
It's a serious piece of work, with talented writers like Richard Price and Dennis Lehane doing the adaptation. But the result is curiously—and annoyingly—uneven, as if different production crews took over on alternate days undoing one another's work.
The performers — also including Mare Winningham as Ralph’s wife, Julianne Nicholson as Terry’s wife, and The Night Of‘s Bill Camp as a local lawyer — are all strong, but in service of storytelling that doesn’t always deserve them. Imagine the more overheated aspects of True Detective, but with more blatant nods to demons and far less impressive visuals.
A very well crafted show. The keys here are DIRECTION and INSTRUMENTAL SOUNDTRACK. A lot of Tv Series don´t get that music can be 50% of the mood you want to set in the scene. Also, the acting is top. HBO made a very good desition by supporting this project.
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SEASON 1
The show definitely starts out strong, but the second half of the season drags on and becomes pretty boring. In addition to being boring, it's also somehow able to be confusing. Something about this show just wasn't for me.
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SEASON 1
So far, so good. I enjoyed the book, and the Hodges trilogy as well, and this is pretty much following the book as far as the first two episodes. Great casting so far too, but I have not seen an episode with Cynthia Erivo yet, so I'm holding off on a final grade. I don't think Holly's race matters as long as they get the character right. Holly is an important character in the Hodge's trilogy and in the Outsider, in which she handles the case alone (well, with the other cops and PI's). I was very disappointed in Mr. Mercedes and I love Brendan Gleeson. Holly was totally wrong in that (a 20 year old cute, quirky chick, which is NOT Holly). If Enrivo gets it right, that will lock this in as one of the best King adaptations for TV.
Edit: Enrivo's Holly starts off fine, but devolves into someone unrecognizable. The last two episodes she says things the character King created would not. Shame, as I thought she was on the right track. I don't think she was the best casting choice. I Falling flat for me towards the end. Ralph's wife and Holly are working my nerve with this whole "you gotta believe or you're no use" bs. Some of the dialogue suffers as it strays from the book.
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SEASON 1
Starts off pretty intriguing but soon spirals downward into a dirge-like pace that is further burdened by the weight of its own depressing nature. This show is not scary. It is a deep, deep bummer. If you have issues with depression, "The Outsider" is something to avoid at all costs.
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SEASON 1
Funereal pacing and an anemic plot are the reasons I give The Outsider a score of 2/10. The Outsider meanders along with all the energy of an ASMR video but at least ASMR is soothing. The story line--something about being in two places at the same time--is never developed in a compelling, believable way (at least by episode #6, which is when I gave up.) I would add that uninspired stories, slowly told are spreading through the HBO lineup faster than the Corona virus. If you don't believe me, try watching Catherine the Great or the last two installments of the True Detective series.
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SEASON 1
