Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

daggersineyes Ok I had mixed feelings all through this series but it was doing enough right for me to persevere till the end - which is a shame because the ending was ridiculous. Unlike some reviewers I saw the ending coming from miles away & I struggle to understand why others didn't. In a show like this the "telegraphing" is actually very obvious & predictable & there's something really annoying about using "plot twists" so blatantly lacking in originality.I actually tried to watch this series 3 times each time not managing to get through the opening scene which was just about the most annoying boring crime scene footage I've ever experienced. The 3rd time I skipped the first half of episode one and jumped in after all the yawn fest was safely away & tho a little confused at first I started to enjoy ep 2 and 3. This was short lived because after a significant event happened at the home of the main "good" guy it all went downhill again & got worse as it progressed starting with a highly unlikely scenario involving a bad dude in hospital. A great film critic once said that you can tell what a movie is going to be like in the first few minutes. He was correct and the same is true of a mini-series. I should have listened to my first instincts.I know this sounds like I hated it and in some ways I did so I wont be recommending it generally but if you like gloomy, "beat you over the head with how immoral we all are", nice guys always lose "reality" then you will probably enjoy it. If you don't care that no-one in the entire show is a likeable character and that they have to constantly stretch the bounds of credulity to keep the plot moving (despite a pretentious charade of being "gritty realism") then maybe you'll enjoy it. If you like your "dark" relentless, devoid of all humour & the kind of show where people don't answer questions they're asked but rather gaze mysteriously into the camera with sullen looks on their faces you'll love this.. I know the cast are capable of better but the direction is clearly abysmal because they all either act like robots or suddenly lose the plot in a ham-fisted out of proportion way that is more embarrassing than dramatic.On the plus side, the lead actor is gorgeous, the main bad dude is portrayed well and the production values are excellent. I think it just loved itself a bit too much, got carried away with it's own nonsense and lost touch with who it was intended for - ie viewers.I have no idea why it won awards, probably because of the rubbish ending - people equate endings like that with "clever realism" - I just think they're cliche and a cop out. Also perhaps they love the "monotone acting" that's meant to convey how emotionless violence is, which is interesting the first couple of times it happens but then becomes tedious the next 5,657 times.Anyway - I'm not sure that review will help but I can say there are worse shows around so it's not a complete waste of time but don't believe the hype and don't expect any decent pay off for your efforts.

Bene Cumb This decade alone has seen so many great British crime/detective (mini)series that it has been difficult to keep track, but thanks to IMDB and Wiki, it is possible to look for references and like-minded works. I have to say I had never heard of The Shadow Line before - thus I began to watch it this Month only, with episodes in succession, of course.Well, I can´t say I was very pleased with the first episode as it did not let me think of so many different levels, intertwines and twists I could see later on... I was pleasantly suprised about Rafe Spall´s performance, but Stephen Rea was not visible yet - and when he appeared, then the thrilling pace enhanced and I could admire Mr Rea´s talent again (in my opinion, many "more supporting" actors excel the "more leading" ones a bit). I became very eager to wait what would happen next, how and if the things proceed and what would be the outcome of this complex mess without really good characters... So, the final episode included additional surprises and the ending scenes differ greatly from usual round-ups of crime series. All in all, well done, similar quality as Line of Duty or Luther... Again, I have some doubts regarding plausibility (what about such links in an EU/NATO country police force) but as all this was depicted in a thrilling and fluent manner, then I just let me carry off with the events and witty solutions.

Marius Holman Penney Honestly, I was quite shocked by the large amounts of positive praise aimed at The Shadow Line on this website. Perhaps, I was missing something, but I found this show almost completely unbearable. Only in it's final episode did it begin to show any flashes of a genuinely good show. The show just seemed unable to decide what it intended to be. It seemed to be intended as a gritty crime drama (much like the far-superior Forbrydelsen), and yet seemed largely constructed from elements that would normally go towards a self-consciously stylish and silly romp. Any attempts at genuine gritty drama were totally undermined by the daft, dim and almost-sickeningly over-the-top and 'stylised' (the sort of stylised that involves a shot looking pretty, but displaying no competence in the slightest) approach the show took. Similarly, any attempts to be fun were shattered by it's 'oh so serious this is dramatic no seriously it's horrifically dramatic and realistic and clever' attitude. If I wanted campy fun, I would get out my box-set of Adam Adamant Lives. If I wanted gritty crime drama, I would sit for 18 hours weeping in front of my box-set of Forbrydelsen. This incompetent and utterly limp attempt to fuse the two is completely skipable.

Anthony Page **** Spoilers **** I watched the whole series, all 7 episodes and I understood it all, nothing here too hard to understand. This show has been compared to The Wire. Very unfortunate since such a contrast shows this series flaws. The Wire was realistic the events believable. You felt these things *could* happen in this world and did. I don't think The Shadow Line aspires to this. All the events and corruption, betrayal for a police pension? I was as incredulous as Jonah Gabriel when he asked the former cop on the boat if he was actually disguising all that corruption for altruism.Most of the acting was good. Most of the story was good but I never just look at that. I look at the overall plot and the effect the series will have on the world. Is the overall plot believable? No. Is this a warning of what could really happen in the world? Of course not. This is the new millennium folks not the 70's. I have a little more faith in the police force in Britain than that. Besides if millions of dollars suddenly show up in the police pension fund someone is going to notice.The series is called the Shadow Line. a reference to the moral line the characters draw in themselves. Bad morals were well documented but the other side, the good side is almost completely absent. At the end of the series Gatehouse and Patterson ask is it so clear to draw that line? Jonah Gabriel says to Gatehouse "of course"... honestly I was waiting to hear more. Obviously the good side of "THE SHADOW LINE" is not well represented here.I don't need a happy ending, but the ending in this film was negative in the extreme.