In my never ending search for shows to have on while I work, I finally sat down to watch Broadchurch – and then later Gracepoint. Broadchurch is a three season series that begins with the death of a boy in Broadchurch, a small coastal town. Starring David Tennant and Olivia Coleman, the show is packed with incredible talent (Jodie Whittaker, Jonathan Bailey, and Arthur Darvill to name a few). But it isn’t a straightforward whodunit. While who killed Danny is one of the most important elements of the story, it’s also about what lies beneath the surface of a small town and how well do you really know people.
The acting in Broadchurch is nuanced, to the point that it doesn’t feel like acting. You are there with the pain, the hope, the heartache. The way the show is shot, you feel characters loneliness. You know it’s fiction, but the acting is stellar. (Make no mistake, it can seem dull if you aren’t expecting it.. Because it’s a character piece and not action – it’s a lot of dialogue and reactions)
Enter Gracepoint
So it’s no surprise that American networks wanted to adapt it. Enter Gracepoint, an adaptation of the story set in Northern California. They brought back David Tennant as an American detective with a dodgy accent, and Anna Gunn takes the Olivia Coleman role. It’s the case of the death of Danny, though the details are different. Last name, occupations of some of the people in the small down. It’s a difficult watch. And not because of David Tennant’s accent, or the way they still felt like making the town minister as British in tone as possible (old fashioned churches that feel hundreds of years old don’t exist unless it’s the Catholic Church, and Paul isn’t Catholic. They wrote him as if he’s Anglican, but in America).
It’s tough because Graceoiubt is shot like a traditional American drama. The majority of the actors feel like they’re acting. Despite incredible actors like Tennant, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte and Michael Peña doing their best to exist in the moment… there’s a soap opera element to most of the remaining cast. They pose, they snarl in ways that feel like you’re waiting for Erica Kane to slap someone. It feels manufactured, rather than feeling like you’re a fly on the wall.
Some of the adaptations worked well enough, some didn’t. Mostly it feels like a shadow of the original, and where the story veers – Gracepoint feels as though it’s trying too hard to justify its own existance.
I wouldn’t have minded an similarly themed American story centered around a tragedy, something with a unique crime, unique cast of characters. Where the similarity was the honest treatment, the open emotion from the cast – not the events and cast of characters. Because this was so similar, I found myself weighing the decisions on where they changed tactics and where they didn’t. Or the casting choices. (Gracepoint’s young journalist was just unlikeable. Jonathan Bailey was brash, but likeable)
If you were ever wondering if Gracepoint was worth your time, it really isn’t. Watch Broadchurch on Netflix or Peacock and give yourself time to experience it.