Roush Review: Nicole Kidman Is ‘Scarpetta’ in Queasy Book Adaptation
Review
Scarpetta
Appropriately for a parent company (Amazon) that specializes in book sales, on Kindle as well as old-fashioned paper, Prime Video is making a name for itself by adapting the stories of literary mystery heroes so familiar to a large fan base of readers that they can go by one name. Bosch. Cross.
And now Scarpetta, as in Kay Scarpetta, the driven medical examiner whose clinical tales of dissection and detection have amassed nearly 30 volumes to date since Postmortem in 1990. It seems incredible that it has taken this long to adapt Patricia Cornwell‘s bestsellers for small or big screen, but their time has come, with Nicole Kidman training her icy gaze on bodies living and dead in the title role.
The series unfolds over two timelines, toggling between them through all eight episodes (dropping at once for binge purposes). Kidman stars in the present-day story, when the seasoned forensic pathologist returns to her Virginia roots after years away in Boston, resuming her role as the state’s Chief Medical Examiner. The other dates back 28 years, when the young and inexperienced Kay (the 1990s version played by a bland Rosy McEwen) tackles a troubling murder case that comes back to haunt her all these decades later.
Connie Chornuk/Prime
But the tonal imbalance is even greater when the procedural aspects, grisly as they are including in the graphic autopsy scenes, too often take a back seat to overwrought domestic angst that makes you want to kill most of the people on screen. Kay’s snake pit of a workplace, where she’s overseen by a health commissioner (Lenny Clarke) who was once her resentful rival, pales next to the battleground of her home life, where she lives in the plantation-style estate of her husband Benton (The Mentalist‘s Simon Baker), an emotionally withdrawn FBI profiler.
Their home is anything but peaceful, thanks to her overbearing and much-married sister Dorothy, played at full bellow by Jamie Lee Curtis, who seems to have wandered in from a bad Designing Women knockoff. Sloshing alcohol in a variety of voluptuous costumes, Dorothy never stops snipping at the uptight Kay, except when she’s snapping at her ex-detective husband Pete (a hangdog Bobby Cannavale, whose younger self is played as a blunt instrument by his son Jake), and badgering her daughter Lucy (West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose), who in the weirdest subplot is burying her grief over the death of her wife Janet (New Amsterdam‘s Janet Montgomery) by hanging out obsessively with Janet’s overly sympathetic AI avatar.
These tiresome scenes continually pull focus from the main event, a new murder that bears an unsettling resemblance to Kay’s first major case, making her and Pete (her unofficial partner) question whether they got the right culprit back in the day. This also sets up an interesting conflict between Kay and husband Benton (played in the past by Weeds‘ Hunter Parrish), whose separate investigations go down different paths, though he’s professionally bound not to share information with his frustrated wife, who may be overstepping her job’s bounds in any case. Even this tends to get lost in the narrative’s busy and overstuffed structure.
As the genre demands, both timelines lead to Kay being in dangerous proximity to a killer. But by then, we’ve experienced too many red herrings the size of Moby Dick, making the denouements feel almost as random as they are bloody.
As Cornwell has proved with her books, and with TV precedent including Quincy, M.E., Crossing Jordan, Body of Proof and Britain’s long-running Silent Witness among others, the morgue can be a lively place to stage a crime drama. If Scarpetta returns for a second season, I hope it can benefit from this critical autopsy, with one key recommendation: Simplify.
Scarpetta, Series Premiere, Wednesday, March 11 (eight episodes), Prime Video
Conversation16 Comments
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A
Jamie Lee Curtis's character is beyond annoying!
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K
One episode and out. What a mess.
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L
Childish infighting between the sisters is so overblown it definitely takes away from what should be the main storyline. Curtis may not be miscast but her acting is absolutely atrocious. Kidman’s portrayal of Scarpetta fails due to poor adaptation book to screen, i.e., the writing is for a B movie rather than a tribute to one of the best book series applauding a strong female lead.
BTW: I stopped watching at episode 1 and then, trying to be fair, I finished the episodes available…what a waste of my time(and I am retired!)
I recommend NOT wasting your time on this because it is like a train wreck.
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D
I couldn't even get through the whole 2nd episode!! Jamie Lee Curtis is absolutely annoying
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V
I have read every Scarpetta novel and no way is Kidman capable of pulling this casting off in any way, shape or form. Jaime Lee could do Dorthy in a heartbeat. Simon Baker as Benton Wesley is a joke. Enough said!
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L
Agreed!
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N
Cornwell's early Scarpetta books were fantastic reads. About 15-20 yrs ago, something happened and her plots and writing style became total, complete garbage. It's like Ryan Murphy took over - characters, plots, jumpy/odd writing - nothing made sense anymore. It sounds like this series is beginning with they way Cornwell's books ended up.
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L
I agree. I loved her early book but the later books were very different and disjointed. Was very excited when I heard about the series but now I am not so sure. Why change something that is good?
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J
I totally agree with you. I've stopped reading them. They just don't hold my interest anymore.
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A
I've read most of the Scarpetta books and Nicole Kidman is completely miscast.
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L
I agree!!! Not sure any of this casting is up to par with Cross or Bosch.
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L
I second that, Lisa. What a genuine wasted opportunity for what could have been a hit series.
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S
Some extremely popular books do not translate to a good TV movie or big screen movie. Her books are grizzly in details.
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L
Too much and then not enough.
By the time I found out how they caught the killer 28 years ago, I was wondering why they had any doubt since there was a videotape!
The FBI involvement was confusing (illegal) and did not understand Benton‘s problem. Stopped reading the books, so do not know if that was involved.
We want the Scarpetta from the early books. Less yelling.
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C
Not being a fan of Kidmans acting, ever, I surprisingly found her to be extremely watchable in Scarpetta! Yeah the show is vastly different from the books, but I enjoyed watching every episode. And I am a massive fan of Patricia Cornwell and have all of her books. A bit weirded out by the AI angle of Janet and Lucy. A very different ending to the book. I look forward to the next season.
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D
I absolutely loved the first series. Stayed up all night and watched it in one sitting. I couldn’t get enough! I can’t wait for season 2! 5 stars for sure. Im addicted and may even watch again!!
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