Archie review – Jason Isaacs is every bit as smooth as Cary Grant
Numerous famous actors find it challenging to match the image they portrayed on the big screen, but for a legendary Hollywood leading man, the difference was especially noticeable. Cary Grant was not simply a name that Archie Leach utilized to market himself as an actor. Rather, it was a persona that Leach embodied both on and off-screen for years, in a hopeless effort to transform into another person.
Archie is an emotional biography drama consisting of four parts that portrays the different stages of Archie's life. In the show, Dainton Anderson embodies Archie as a young boy growing up in Bristol during the 1910s. He lives in poverty and has to deal with the bitter reality that his father, Elias, is partly responsible for his elder brother's death. This has a profound impact on Archie's mother, who never fully recovers from the loss. In one of the show's most powerful scenes, Elsie Leach, played by Kara Tointon, scrubs the living room floor in semi-darkness before she suddenly stops, throws her head back, and screams. This devastating moment becomes a turning point in the show as Elias cunningly has the broken-hearted Elsie committed to an asylum, lying to Archie about his mother's death.
Archie, a teenager played by Oaklee Pendergast, decides to join a group of acrobats and travels to New York with them. However, he doesn't want to return home and instead desires to become an actor. He undergoes a transformation into a young adult portrayed by Calam Lynch, who does an impressive job of portraying a rising star. The show effectively portrays significant moments in a charming and corny manner. In one instance, Archie teaches himself acting and manages to hide his Bristolian accent in just one evening spent practicing lines in his dingy attic. Later on, when he's asked to change his name to Cary Grant, he uses a Los Angeles phone book and a bored movie-studio secretary to complete the paperwork promptly. Success beckons in 1932, and Archie becomes Cary Grant.
The blog talks about a series that has successfully avoided becoming too long and complicated by making a daring decision. Instead of focusing on the peak of actor Grant's career, where popular films like Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story were released, the series explores his childhood trauma. The story does not revolve around his inability to deal with fame, but rather his struggle to escape his past. The series picks up when Grant is in his 60s, having already starred in many films and gone through three divorces. The show is based on the memoir of Grant's fourth wife, Dyan Cannon, who also serves as executive producer. Grant's failed relationship with Cannon provides the primary focus for the series.
Cannon is much younger than Grant, by about 33 years. She is aware that being in a relationship with him may not be a good idea, but she can't resist his charming and attractive personality. However, her initial gut feeling was right. During their short marriage, Grant is controlling and abusive towards Cannon. He corrects her every grammar mistake, obliges her to use a coaster under her water glass, and even calls her "child." His difficult relationship with his mother gets worse when she returns, now portrayed by Harriet Walter, who gives a sharp performance.
Laura Aikman does an incredible job portraying a young star with a mix of energy, intelligence, and innocence. Jason Isaacs fits the role of Grant perfectly, portraying both his charm and underlying menace. The script written by Jeff Pope digs deep to reveal the dark past that influences Grant's behavior. Isaacs portrays Grant as a damaged man who struggles to be kind and prioritize what's important in the present due to his past. Although it would have been easy to make Grant more likable, the show doesn't shy away from depicting how difficult it was to live with him. If there are doubts about whether we're seeing just one side of the story, the reality is that if it's only half as bad as Cannon claims, it was still unbearable.
The sadness of not being able to achieve a satisfying life is emphasized by the fifth version of Grant in the 1980s. During his speaking tour before he passed away, Grant spoke candidly to his fans and seemed relieved to unburden himself. Isaacs, who still plays the role of Grant, has perfectly captured the warm and sentimental essence of an older Grant. The movie's closure is tear-jerking, as it emphasizes that Grant found redemption in being a devoted parent to his and Cannon's daughter, Jennifer. This ending offers some relief to an otherwise heart-wrenching story.
You can catch Archie on ITVX if you're in the UK. However, if you're in Australia, you can stream it through BritBox starting from 14 December.
