The one thing HBO has been doing lately is putting together remarkable casts for strong projects in a mini-series format. The Young Pope put together a remarkable cast for an intriguing look at the Papacy. Big Little Lies combines multiple Oscar winners as it weaves a murder mystery around married life.
The series is focused around three women: Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), her advisor Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and the new single mom in town, Jane (Shailene Woodley). All the while a murder has happened that the show sporadically goes back to every now and again to break up the storyline between the women.
That’s the show’s main problem; if it was just an exploration of three women and the nature of their own particular styles of motherhood, et al, this would be a fantastic show. Combine three incredibly talented actresses with great characters and you have the recipe for a great for a terrific show.
The problem is the murder mystery, which weaves in and out throughout the series, takes away from the character study we’re in the middle of. The murder mystery itself is pretty tame and nowhere near as interesting as seeing Witherspoon, Kidman and Woodley on screen. While the murder is directly involved with the characters … it feels like an afterthought most times. Being in their world is far more interesting than trying to figure out who died and how.
An in depth behind the scenes piece, as well as inside the episodes, are included.
HBO presents Big Little Lies, Starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Adam Scott. Run Time: 370 minutes. Not rated. Released on: 8.1.2017
