Come on... closer... closer...
I have already boggled on tumblr, but I was not prepared for the sheer... extent of Mark Gatiss's appearance in London Spy. THERE IS NO WAY OF RECOVERING FROM THAT. OH GOD. I'm actually torn between "squee!" and "agh, can't unsee!". It's an odd yet delightful feeling. He's such an evil version of Mycroft, too (especially when combined with the Shezza/Danny comparisons made by multiple people). Admittedly I have even less idea of what's going on with the plot than when I started, which in another show would probably bother me, but I'm just going with the flow on this one. At this point I don't even care what it's about. I think there are spies involved, possibly :P
(Oh, but I did love that line about spies and shirts. You know the one.)
Saw The Lobster last night, something which I've had planned for several weeks, but is apparently part of the universe's plan to show me that Ben Whishaw exists, because he had a small part in it as well (Colin Farrell stars). The movie is a very European-flavoured surrealist tragicomedy set in a world where everyone must be paired off. Singletons are sent to a hotel, where they have 45 days to find a partner or be transformed into an animal of their choice. David (Farrell) has just separated from his wife, and arrives with his dog, who used to be his brother. If David does not find his match, he wishes to be a lobster, a choice the hotel manager commends as very original and thoughtful. (Me, I just kept thinking about a nice butter sauce.)
It's pretty much as bizarre as it sounds, but hilarious in parts, with all the actors adopting this stilted, overly serious way of speaking that just makes it even funnier. The singletons must abide by all sorts of odd rules and regulations, and participate in dances, meetings, etc. to find their match. Occasionally an alarm sounds, when they are all required to grab the tranquiliser guns located in their rooms and go hunting for "loners" who have escaped, but continue to live in the woods around the hotel (why? who knows). Every loner successfully captured means one extra day of allowed singlehood. Ben Whishaw is one of two male friends David makes at the hotel, and plays the "Limping Man" - his wife had a limp, too, but she died. Now he'll do whatever it takes to find a new partner before his time runs out.There are lots of interesting female characters - the hotel manager (Olivia Colman, also in London Road), the sympathetic hotel maid (Ariane Labed), the leader of the Loners (Lea Seydoux), the mysterious woman (Rachel Weisz), as well as the various potential partners David meets at the hotel. In case you're wondering, he has to declare his preference as "homosexual or heterosexual" upon check-in - flexibility is disallowed due to previous "operational issues" (an apparently lesbian couple is visible at one of the dances, so I don't think they're separated for the duration.) Similarly, he must choose between a size 44 and size 45 shoe. They don't do half sizes. He must spend the first day with one hand cuffed behind his back to show him how superior "two" is to "one". It's all like this.
Well worth seeing for some really interesting ideas and deadpan humour, but dragged a bit in the final third and I think really lost its way in the end. I immediately wanted to rewrite the ending to one which I thought worked much better both plot-wise and symbolically, which is a bad sign *g*. Still, I really enjoyed many things about it, and I think I'm officially adding Ben Whishaw to the list of actors who I might not see something for, but who add bonus points to anything they're in. He doesn't do much for me physically, but he's a wonderful actor to watch, and I really, really like his voice.
