Tag: Subtitles

“The Doc and the Vet” TV Series Review

A scene from the French TV series “The Doc and the Vet.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The charming dramedy series from French TV, “The Doc and the Vet” (originally, “La doc et le veto”), is six 90-minute progressive telefilms about the title characters and the small town in which they practice their respective professions. Most of the cast appear in most of the episodes, with evolving roles and relationships. By the end of #6, viewers will feel like they know a lot of people therefrom, and empathize with most of them.

The majority of the characters are lifelong residents of the village, including the veterinarian, Pierre (Michel Cymes). We begin as the new doctor, Emma (Dounia Coesens), comes to town… reluctantly. She’s a big city gal with big city career aspirations who is obligated to spend three years in the boonies to repay the government grant for the education she’d just received. The accommodations and facilities promised to her weren’t ready, so she has to move into a former school building, sharing office space, living quarters and a receptionist/assistant, Francoise (Valerie Schwarcz), with the vet. The latter is a bit ditzy, but quite secure in her job, largely because she’s married to the town’s feckless mayor, Gilles (Pasquale D’Inca).

The stories, setting and pace are pleasantly pastoral. It’s a farming community with lots of sheep and some cattle. Pierre’s practice embraces all sorts of beasties, including any injured animal of any species, wild or domestic. As is probably typical of any country’s small towns these days, most of the locals are up in years, with the generation after them having moved on to bigger things and brighter lights. Emma is resented at first – too young; an outsider; and only there by time-limited contractual obligation, rather than career choice. The plots have stand-alone main themes which needn’t be binged, but should be seen in order due to carryover story arcs. Emma’s arrival and acclimation dominates the first; others center around a theft, lake pollution, eco-activists vs. ranchers over legally-protected vultures in the region; a few romantic developments; family rifts, old and new; finishing with a plague of anonymous poison-pen letters threatening to tear the village apart.

The series is nice and easy-going compared to most of the imported crime fare I’ve been covering. Most players are likable for a full range of reasons, with a smattering of eccentricities, though without the comic extremes of series like “Doc Martin”. The tone of “Father Brown” comes closer to this one. A couple of a-holes in the mix keep it from being too Mayberry. The scripts never get overly cute, and the protagonists are never too shrewd or tough to be relatable. There’s no condescension as viewers see the best and worst of small-town life, from the spirit of community to the tedium of having few social venues and entertainment options.

The episodes aired from 2021-24. #6 does not end with any cliffhangers, so one will be satisfied if that’s the last. But anyone watching all of them will hope for more to come.

“The Doc and the Vet,” in French with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

Michel CYMES Dounia COESENS ex titre CAMBROUSSE

100 YARDS – Review

A scene from 100 YARDS. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

For many of us, the first thought the title 100 YARDS evokes is of a football field. But this is a period Chinese martial arts drama that’s long on action and short on plot coherence. An old wushu master dies and designates his top student (Andy On) as his successor, rather than his son (Jacky Hueng). Both are top-notch fighters, but the old boy thinks the future of their discipline is bleak in the early 20th century, and that his scion should embrace the region’s burgeoning international economy by becoming a banker. Jacky don’t like that none.

The tedious story involves periodic flareups between the two guys, plus threads involving a gang of slingshot-wielding dock workers, a council of martial arts elders, a handful of foreigners and probably others I’m forgetting. It covers China at a time of its opening up to economic and social influences from abroad, sexism, racism and fading traditions.

But it doesn’t cover any of them well. That’s primarily because there’s no emotional hook to be found. This is a genre that reliably plies the waters of good underdogs overcoming evil despite long odds. But this script never makes that distinction even remotely clear. Viewers won’t know who to root for, and may windup switching allegiances a few times as the story unfolds. The solution might be to just enjoy the first-rate sets and costumes, while waiting for the next fight.

The action is the only big asset here. Many sequences are superbly choreographed – several on a large scale. The gritty clashes are fast-paced without wire work, exotic weapons or prominent CGI enhancers. Those scenes are satisfyingly energetic, piling up a hefty body count without showing much blood and gore. The clashes are reminiscent of Hong Kong chopsocky flicks of the 1970s, when budget limitations generally kept the physical bits more within human capabilities for most of the productions.

One could derive the perks of this one by fast-forwarding through the talky parts, allowing the fine action portion to shine. Since the dialog won’t steer your loyalties, anyway, why not just cherry-pick the goodies?

100 YARDS, in Mandarin with English subtitles, is available on digital formats from WellGo USA starting Tuesday, Feb. 18.

RATING: 1 out of 4 stars

ESCAPE – Review

A scene from the South Korean action thriller ESCAPE. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

Recently, I’ve found a slew of Korean action flicks to be quite impressive, particularly for outstanding stuntwork and effects. Most have been contemporary crime-themed offerings. ESCAPE, despite its potentially action-heavy title, goes in another direction – longer on political propaganda. Still quite effective.

The protagonist is a sergeant in the North Korean army (Lee Je-hoon) in a unit patrolling the southern border with you-know-who. The area is riddled with land mines to deter deserters and defectors. He forms an elaborate plan to defect, including painstakingly mapping all the mines he’ll have to avoid when the time comes. Steve McQueen’s characters from PAPILLON and THE GREAT ESCAPE would both admire his level of preparation. His goal gets complicated when discovered by one of his men (Hong Xa-bin), who insists on going with him under threat of exposure. Any thwarted attempt would promptly be rewarded by execution, so the die is cast.

A greater obstacle arrives in the form of a smug, sadistic officer (Koo Kyo-hwan) in charge of enforcing discipline and managing political spin, when needed, to protect the image of the nation and its troops.  The two antagonists have an interesting backstory. The officer comes from a wealthy family for whom the sergeant’s family was employed, resulting in an uneven friendship of sorts in their youth. Surprising degrees of class difference emerge from a supposedly egalitarian Communist society, as the rich kid could have become a concert pianist, while the underling had few options among menial careers, despite his intellect and talents.

The mere fact of needing such extreme measures to keep its citizens and soldiers within its borders would be damning enough. But we also get plenty of elements that make the purported equality of the system look like a cynical lie. Privilege is not distributed equally or fairly. Intriguingly, despite the obvious agenda of demonizing the North, it wouldn’t take many script changes to flip the script and make it something the Supreme Leader would allow to be shown on his turf. I wonder if they shot some alternate scenes to go for that cash grab?

Most importantly, director Lee Jong-pil manages to pack considerable action, suspense and character conflict into his production. Koo Kyo-hwan is fleshed out as a surprisingly complex villain, even evoking a dollop of empathy beneath his overarching cruelty. The sergeant’s persona surprises with quick thinking and creativity on top of his stellar leadership and soldiering skills. The package delivers on action and entertainment irrespective of its polemic purpose.

ESCAPE, in Korean with English subtitles, debuts streaming on Well Go USA Entertainment on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

“Captain Marleau: Wind and Tides” – TV series review

Corinne Masiero as Capitaine Marleau. Photo Credit : Josée Dayan. Courtesy of MHzChoice

MHzChoice has already imported almost four full seasons of the light-hearted French crime series, “Captain Marleau.” This upcoming release “Captain Marleau: Wind and Tides (Entre Vents et Marees)” is the two-part, three-hour pilot that hadn’t been part of the previous packages. For newbies, Marleau (Corinne Masiero) is a Columbo-esque itinerant police detective who goes from village to village to solve their latest murder(s). She drives in looking almost homeless, and plays the fool to mask her considerable skills. She also dissembles with irreverent wisecracks, annoying the witnesses and suspects while delighting viewers, and learning more than she would with straightforward questioning. Each episode is a new crime in a new locale with a mostly different cast, so the way she flusters the local cops just meeting her provides a reliable source of humor.

For series devotees, the pilot may have more historical than entertainment value. That’s because there’s less time with Marleau on camera, and less of her sarcastic, self-effacing wit than we’re used to from the further episodes. It’s not like an origin story, since there’s virtually nothing about her past in the script. But my impression is that the writers and producers had yet to realize what a unique comic gem they had in their star. Two of the opener’s four credited writers only did this one. The slew of writers throughout the rest, including Masiero in many, mined the comedy gold within her to much better avail.

In this beginning, Marleau’s unkempt hair is darker but her overall look is the same. She rolls into a quaint fishing village during a raging conflict over its future. The mayor and her hubby are pushing for a massive overhaul of the harbor and surrounding area to create upscale tourism. The plan includes a yacht-friendly marina, resort hotel and casino. The downside is that it would also crowd out the fishermen, who had always provided the city’s economic and social foundations.

The up-graders’ plans are obstructed by the irate locals, with particular focus on two families – one rich and titled; the other working-class – whose homes are on pieces of land essential to the massive project. A seemingly pertinent murder brings Marleau to town to head the investigation. The inevitable mare’s nest of motives and suspects swirl, while we observe the machinations of the property players. There are some surprises and twists along the way. We see more of Marleau’s usual shrewdness but much less of her edgy, Doctor House-like sarcasm and disdain.

So fans should slightly downscale expectations, and newbies should know that if you kind of like what you see, the best is yet to come. This 2.5-star rating is a bit lower than what I’ve given the previously-reviewed 30-plus episodes already streaming on the MHz site, in which Marleau became my favorite French TV sleuth not named Captain Sharif (that full series also available on MHz). The only reason for that is less face time for the star than they soon learn she deserved.

“Captain Marleau: Wind and Tides (Entre Vents et Marees),” in French with English subtitles, is available streaming on MHzChoice starting Tuesday, July 23.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Corinne Masiero as Capitaine Marleau. Photo Credit : Josée Dayan. Courtesy of MHzChoice

“Fosca” Season 2 TV Series Review

A scene from the Italian TV series “Fosca.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

In the first season of “Fosca Innocenti” we followed the light mystery adventures of the eponymous Deputy Police Chief (Vanessa Incontrada) and her mostly-female team of detectives in the picturesque Tuscany city of Arezzo (where the series is filmed). Each of the four 100-minute episodes presented a different case, with ongoing subplots for the principals. Some were romantic. The major one was Fosca’s barely-repressed desire to transcend her lifelong Friend Zone status with Cosimo (Francesco Arca). But the charming café owner was planning to emigrate to the U.S. for a major career advancement, further reducing her odds of securing that upgrade. The scripts were appropriately suspenseful while developing a likable set of protagonists and making fine use of the beauty of the setting. For a unique element, Fosca’s acute, almost canine, sense of smell helps solve the crime in many of the episodes.

At the end of Season One, it looked like Fosca and Cosimo just might become a couple. Season Two picks up from there, with the two seeming blissfully happy, nestled into the magnificent estate she’d inherited from her adored father. But how dull would that idyllic state be for another quartet of adventures? Impermissibly is the answer. That’s when Lapo (Giovanni Scifoni), Fosca’s beau from 20 years earlier, shows up with a deed indicating that her dad had signed the property over his dad! Lapo’s coming home after a long absence to claim the mansion, grounds and contents, forcing her out so he can list it for sale. It soon becomes apparent that his underlying agenda is winning her back with a combination of this leverage and triggered nostalgia.

But wait! There’s more! Rosa (Cecilia Dazzi), the married member of the team, discovers that her long-term hubby is cheating on her. Lesbian Giulia (Desiree Noferini) runs through a handful of affairs, of which one is particularly frustrating. Pino (Francesco Leone), the only guy in the crew, finds himself torn between his fiancée who has moved to Sicily, imposing a difficult long-distance romance, and Rita (Caterina Signorini), the cute new member of the staff, who also seems drawn to him.

As for the crimes, the first involves a bride fallen or pushed from a window hours before tying the knot with the owner of a large vineyard. The second centers on a seamstress murdered in a dress shop, exposing a mare’s nest of secrets from her past, greatly expanding the suspect pool. The third gives us the attempted murder of Fosca’s neighbor and close friend, from which a successful offing ensues. The fourth puts us in the middle of crimes among those in the perfume industry occurring during a major trade show.

For Season Two, the producers switched to a different writer and director from those who crafted the first. It shows. This round shifts the running time balance considerably more to the personal stories than the subject crimes they’re solving. Depending on your preferences, that could be a plus by getting deeper insights about, and empathy with, the set of protagonists; or you might think their cluster of romantic story arcs veers too heavily into soap opera territory. There’s little nudity or on-screen violence, making the melodrama more prominent.

The season ends with reasonable closure for all the plot threads, making the package satisfying as an intact miniseries, if it’s over. Since it aired only last year, it’s still early enough for the cast to be around for a Season Three. I’d welcome it – especially if they return to more time for the crime.

“Fosca: Season 2,” in Italian with English subtitles, is available streaming starting Tuesday, June 18, on MHzChoice.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Review

Riccardo Scamarcio as Luciano and Benedetta Porcaroli as Anna, in THE SHADOW OF THE DAY. Courtesy of Memensha Films and the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY is a hauntingly beautiful tale of love and sacrifice in wartime, a story of two people unfolding against the backdrop of fast-shifting events in the run up to WWII. This is an excellent film, a well-crafted, powerfully-told tale that evokes classic films with it’s strong characters and riveting performances, and a mix of romance, heartache, suspense and tension. With strong storytelling, gorgeous production values and powerful, moving, layered performances, THE SHADOW OF THE DAY is one of the highlights of the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival.

Set in Italy in the 1930s in a small town, the story revolves around a middle-aged Italian man, Luciano (Riccardo Scamarcio) who manages an elegant restaurant, who notices a worried young woman (Benedetta Porcaroli) who has been hanging around the front of the restaurant all day. His head waiter asks if he should shoo her away but the manager tells him, no, he’ll do it. Instead, when he speaks to her, asking casually if he can help her, she begs for a job. She says her name is Anna and she’s from Rome. He doesn’t ask why she left although he may have an idea. The restaurant doesn’t have an opening, she doesn’t have restaurant experience, but something in her desperation touches him and he hires her anyway. Sending her to the kitchen to work, he pulls her aside first and gives her a plate of food.

Yet, this kind-hearted man, like most Italians before the war, is a supporter of the Fascists. Luciano just also happens to be a good man. Like most Italians, he admires the Fascists for getting the economy working and helping WWI veterans like himself, a wounded war hero who got no welcome home after the war.

Although some of his old friends are active in the party, he is more casual about it, and rather cool towards the adoring cult of personality that has developed around Mussolini. Unlike some Italians, he is not antisemitic and is not shocked when he eventually learns that the smart, hard-working woman he took pity on and hired is hiding a Jewish identity. He notes that Italy, unlike German, doesn’t have anti-Jewish laws, although his employee points out that may change with Italy’s new alliance with Hitler.

While Luciano is respectful of his new employee, we also see he is drawn to her, even if he’s a generation older. Although she is a bit stand-offish at first, the quiet charm and thoughtfulness of this good-looking middle-aged man begins to have an effect on her too.

But just as things seem set on a path to romance, surprising twists intervene, and the film suddenly shifts from a budding romance and drama about complicated relationships, to a taut thriller with even more complexities, and dangers, as war approaches. The tension rises and relationships between everyone at the restaurant grow far more complex.

This turn changes what has been a well-crafted romance into a gripping suspense tale, while losing none of that tension between these two. The acting is superb, and the film further develops all the characters, using them to bring out various issues of pre-war Italy. The storytelling is tight, the period settings and details all flawless and the photography excellent, but it is the performances, particularly Riccardo Scamarcio as Luciano and Benedetta Porcaroli as Anna that really win our hearts.

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY, in Italian with English subtitles, plays the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival on Thursday, Apr. 18 at 7pm at the B&B West Olive Cinema in Creve Coeur.

MATCHMAKING – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Review

Nechama (Liana Ayoun, at center right) meets a not-too-promising date, in the romantic comedy MATCHMAKING. Courtesy of Israeli Films

MATCHMAKING, one of the best comedies at this year’s St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, is a romantic comedy about a young Orthodox Jewish who seems to have everything a family could want in a match – good family, good grades, good looks – but who is pining for a girl who, on paper, does not match up.

Yeshiva student Moti Bernstein (Amit Rahav) is a good student and obedient son from a respected Israeli Ashkenazi Jewish family who has reached the age to start looking for a wife. Moti is a catch who has it all – handsome, smart, tall, from a good Ashkenazi family – everything any matchmaker or Orthodox family would want. As an A-list candidate in the books of Orthodox matchmaking, Moti is a guy who should have his pick of any girl he wants for a bride. So what’s the problem? While the matchmaker is busily arranging dates to match this A-list find, Moti is secretly falling for his sister’s best friend, a girl no matchmaker would pick for this top prospect. But who decides it is a perfect match?

The delightfully funny, charming Israeli romantic comedy MATCHMAKING poses just this dilemma, where the heart and the head part ways in the matter of marriage, while giving us insights into the world of Orthodox Jewish matchmaking. MATCHMAKING leans into the comedy, with wonderful performances and a surprising amount of slapstick in this light Jewish take on Romeo and Juliet. The Israeli romantic comedy, directed and co-written by Erez Tadmor, has been a hit at numerous Jewish film festivals and a smash in Israel, with its charming performances, laugh-out-loud moments, and thoughtful look at the practice of matchmaking in the Jewish Orthodox community.

The matchmaker looks at their lists of people seeking a marriage and match people up according to family background and standing, the prospect’s personal characteristics and interests, and offers those prospective brides and grooms to their clients, with the approval of families. The couple then meet in a short series of dates, where they ask each other questions and get a sense of the potential spouse. But ultimately, it is the couple who decide. If he thinks she’s his match, he proposes and the wedding is on. If either thinks it won’t work, he or she can turn down further dates.

Eager to please his parents and looking forward to the marriage that will start his adult life, Moti dutifully goes on his arranged dates with some beautiful young women, including a gorgeous American Jewish young woman from a rich family. She is a rare catch, and marriage to her would mean his future would be secured and comfortable, and he would be free spending his time as a scholar, studying the Torah, the highest, most prestigious ambition in his community. Yet Moti’s eye is repeatedly drawn to his younger sister’s friend Nechama (Liana Ayoun).

He’s known this girl practically all his life, yet now when he is supposed to be deciding between one perfect girl and another, he keeps thinking about her instead of the prospects he’s dating. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s serious – all things Moti admires – but she’s also half-Sephardic, with a mother from North Africa, which in Israeli Orthodox society means her family is nowhere near his equal. She’s on no one’s A-list, and the only Ashkenazi she could hope to be paired with is Moti’s short, asthmatic, socially-awkward schoolmate . It’s a mismatch in the matchmakers’ books.

Moti is a dutiful son and tries to focus on his obligation to pick a spouse that pleases his family, but what about his own heart? Will he forget her with time, as others tell him, especially if his choice lands him in the lap of luxury? What should Moti do – and what’s more, what can he do?

The cast is charming and the love-and-marriage conundrum allows the film to gently explore the limits of matchmaking, where family standing and parents’ preferences rather than the young person’s feelings that determine what is a perfect match. The film gently discusses the pros and cons of the system – it’s success in pairing like to like backgrounds for a solid marriage versus what can go wrong if couple’s families are too different.

As Moti, Amit Rahav gives a strong performance as the appealingly conflicted young man, trying to be the perfect son but also aware of his growing feelings. As Nechama, Liana Ayoun is appealing as well, but someone who is more practical and even skeptical, and looks at the situation with less emotion and with a wary eye on Moti’s feelings, wondering if they might fade. Even if they both want this match – by no means clear – what would be the price be for their families?

As the two young people and their families dance around the problem, MATCHMAKING throws in little comic relief bits as we explore the serious side of the issue. Some of that comic relief comes from one of Moti’s classmates, a shy, awkward guy with asthma who is not on anyone’s A list despite his good family. While Moti goes on his dates, Nechama goes on a few of her own, with no winning prospects but some comic moments. On the other hand, a male matchmaker, Baruch (a wonderful warm and funny Maor Schwietzer), who never married and still lives at the yeshiva, revisits his own tragic romantic history.

MATCHMAKING weaves all these elements – thoughtful, humorous, romantic – into a wonderful, funny and warm tapestry that leads to insights on the challenges of love and marriage.

MATCHMAKING, in Hebrew with English subtitles, plays the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, Apr. 14 at 3:30pm at the B&B West Olive Cinema in Creve Coeur.

SHAYDA – Review

Zar Amir Ebrahimi as Shayda and and Selina Zahednia as Mona in SHAYDA Photo credit: Jane Zhang. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) flees her abusive husband in Iran, along with her six-year-old daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia), and goes into hiding at an international women’s shelter in Australia, in the moving, semi-autobiographical Australian drama SHAYDA.

Set in the 1990s, SHAYDA is partly based on writer/director Noora Niasari’s own childhood experiences, when her mother fled Iran. Zar Amir Ebrahimi gives a charismatic, emotionally moving performance as Shayda, in a touching, emotionally-powerful drama that follows the mother’s and daughter’s journey. Young Selina Zahednia is a charmer as cute, mischievous Mona, effectively portraying her growth in understanding and maturity as they stay in the shelter. The drama premiered at Sundance in 2023, where it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic competition, and it was Australia’s official entry for the Oscars.

We first meet the mother and daughter in the airport, where someone from the international women’s shelter is coaching little Mona on what to do if someone tries to lure her on to a plane to return to Iran. It is a chilling introduction to the precarious situation that Mona and her mother Shayda are now in, as Shayda escapes her husband who beat her and has become increasingly oppressive and brutal.

Shayda chose to flee to Australia because she and her husband had attended college there, until the Iranian government pulled her scholarship. Kindly social worker Joyce (Leah Purcell) runs the international women’s shelter where the mother and daughter go to hide, along with other women, mostly from an array of other nations. Secrecy is essential, as the men the women have fled have been known to either try to kidnap their children or attack the women. The secrecy extends to anyone the women may know, as they never know who may give away the location, intentionally or not, which would endanger all the women.

While in hiding in Australia, Shayda starts the process to get a divorce from her husband Hossein (Osamah Sami), which is no simple thing. Meanwhile, she tries to help her young daughter, who is struggling to adjust to life in the shelter. Homesick young Mona doesn’t understand why they can’t just go home, although the six-year-old does have some understanding that daddy hurt mommy. Mona longs to return to her own house in Iran, her own room and a yard to play in, instead of the cramped shelter where she shares a single room with her mother. Shayda tries to cheer her up, encouraging the little girl’s imaginative drawings, or entertaining her by singing or dancing with her to an exercise program on TV.

While Joyce, the woman who runs the shelter, is kind, not all the other women there are friendly, and Shayda does encounter some racism. The situation becomes more tense when Shayda’s husband Hossein follows them to Australia, and even gets the Australian authorities to grant him some visitation rights with his daughter, which forces Shayda to come up with a way to comply while keeping their location secret.

As the Persian New Year approaches, Shayda hears about a celebration planned by other Iranians nearby, and Mona begs to go. Shayda has to weigh the risk against homesick Mona’s emotional well-being.

Writer/director Noora Niasari does a fine job depicting the tight-rope that Shayda must walk to both care for her daughter and keep them both safe from her estranged abusive husband.

Zar Amir Ebrahimi is impressive as Shayda, and really carries the film on the strength of her appealing, nuanced performance. Osamah Sami does a nice job as husband Hossein, turning on the charm with his estranged wife and promising to change, but also pumping his daughter for information while trying to spoil her to win her affection. Young Selina Zahednia effectively portrays a girl who feels conflicted and caught between her parents.

The film is shot with a pared-down realism appropriate for the drama story. Flashes of color and energy come from little Mona’s artwork, and in the festivities and preparations around the Persian New Year, a celebration of renewal and new beginnings that mirrors the changing lives of mother and daughter.

SHAYDA is a touching drama about a mother and daughter journeying to freedom and a new life in a new land, anchored by an appealing, layered performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi as the lead character.

SHAYDA, in English and Persian with English subtitles, opens Friday, Mar. 22, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer ” – TV Series Review

Massimiliano Gallo as lawyer Vincenzo Malconico, in the Italian comedy series “Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

I’ve reviewed a lot of European TV series when they start streaming on our side of the Atlantic in the last several years. Among the light-hearted ones, France’s “Captain Marleau” and “Sharif” have been my favorites. Italy has also come up with some amusing forays into the genre. “Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer” is the most farcical of them all, as the eponymous attorney (Massimiliano Gallo) is a flustered guy with a marginal practice, besieged by hassles from all directions – family, friends, neighbors and clients –and usually more than one at a time. It’s eight episodes of fast-paced mayhem, so one needs to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. Murders occur, but the emphasis is far more on character comedy than the whodunnit component.

Much about Vincenzo’s appearance screams loser, from his rumpled suits, to his cell phone’s obnoxious ring tone that seems to interrupt every nice moment he ALMOST gets to enjoy, to the way he clutches his briefcase to his chest wherever he goes, apparently not trusting its handle the way everyone else on the planet who totes one for a living does. He’s divorced from an ex-wife (Teresa Saponangelo) who is so overbearing and irrational (despite being a psychologist; or perhaps because of it) that her own mother (Lina Sastri) prefers Vincenzo’s company and counsel to that of her daughter’s. He loves his two adult kids, but is too frazzled to be reliable about things like showing up when he’s supposed to, despite his laudable intentions. All of that is consistent with the series’ Italian title which had “avvocato d’insucceso”after his name and the colon. That roughly translates to “loser lawyer.”

The season opens with Vincenzo being pressured to take a murder case, defending an alleged corpse disposer for Salerno’s mob, even though his practice doesn’t stretch to that area of the law. That earns him the unwanted protection and excessive presence of the defendant’s enforcer, Tricarico (Francesco di Liva). Tricario sees himself as a Dr. Watson to a Sherlock, but he’s more like Mongo to Sheriff Bart in BLAZING SADDLES. Three key killings intertwine throughout the season, providing mysteries and dramatic elements for the scripts as counterpoint to the comedic.

On the (mostly) plus side for our hero, gorgeous lawyer Alessandra (Denise Capezza) seems far more drawn to him than colleagues, most viewers or Vincenzo can believe. In her presence, he’s as shy and awkward as an unpopular, acne-covered ‘tween at his first mixer. And rightly so, for as they say, he’s punching way above his weight class in being with her. Or, in more common parlance, she’s 4-5 rungs above him on the ol’ 1-10 hotness ladder. This all begins after his ex had dumped him and married another, while still coming to Vincenzo regularly for a supplemental boink. Her will, in and out of bed, overwhelms him to an amazing extent as she continues to demand his attentions, sexually and otherwise.

The rest of the details are better left for you to discover. Vincenzo’s underdog charm keeps our empathy solidly in his corner through failures and successes, weaknesses and strengths. Saponangelo plays the virago to the hilt, scheming and demanding whatever suits her in the moment, with absolutely no self-awareness. She needs strong medication and/or substantial time ON a shrink’s couch far more than beside her own, therapizing others. Di Liva and Sastri in supporting roles make their characters shine well beyond the lines written for them. Her character arc is particularly endearing.

The season ends with reasonable closure on most plot and character elements, without the frustration of significant cliffhangers. A few questions do remain open. So this can work as a charming miniseries, or the opening for further seasons if the Gods of Programming will it. I’d prefer the latter.

“Vincenzo Malinconico: Italian Lawyer,” in Italian with English subtitles, streams on MHzChoice as of Tuesday, Mar. 5.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Professor T” (German) – TV Series Review

A scene from the German TV series “Professor T.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

Fans of European mystery series may find the “Professor T” title familiar. That could be because the Belgian original which began in 2015, has spawned French, Czech, British and German versions. This review covers the third season of the last of those listed.

It seems as if ever since the huge success of Tony Shalhoub’s “Monk,” the idea of crime-solving cops or consultants with major psychological issues has blossomed globally. He wasn’t the first damaged-goods sleuth but probably the most popular, here and abroad. Professor T (Matthias Matschke) teaches criminology and regularly assists Cologne’s homicide unit despite massive emotional problems and a painful history that gradually unfolds during the series. He’s brilliant but somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. That, plus severe OCD and recurring flashbacks and/or psychotic hallucinations, makes our Adrian Monk and lesser-known successors like Eric McCormack’s professorial sleuth in ”Perception” or Tom Payne’s haunted FBI profiler in ”Prodigal Son” seem like poster boys for mental health.

In the first two seasons, we learned that Professor T was traumatized as a child from discovering his father’s apparent suicide. Though always brilliant, other traumas related to crime limited him to the controlled environment of academia and away from real police work for years. Then a former student, Detective Anneliese Deckert (Lucie Heinze), coaxed him out of the hallowed halls to help her team between his lectures. All three seasons consist of four episodes, each with a new murder or murders to solve. As is typical of European fare, the shows are more cerebral and less violent than most of our counterparts. Murders occur almost entirely off-camera, and the stiffs are shown only as needed to understand the causes of their deaths. The tone throughout is mostly serious, though the Prof’s prickly nature provides sprinklings of droll humor. His visions add a strong visceral dimension – especially vivid and unnerving in Season 3. Plus he’s acquired a nemesis trying to destroy what’s left of his sanity. Presumably, every great Sherlock must have a Moriarty.

All the scripts are well-written, with suitably complex scenarios to unravel in a satisfying balance with the personal lives and issues of the principals. Though each episode is primarily a stand-alone challenge, the essential backstories, recurring characters and carryover plot threads make it highly advisable to see the first two seasons before diving into the third. Matschke’s Prof is equally brusque and tactless with students, colleagues and suspects, mostly displaying no emotions in his default facial expression of one who just sucked on a lemon while smelling something malodorous. Even so, he’s a fascinating and

empathy-arousing protagonist.

Season 3 ends with a couple of surprising developments but fear not, fellow closure cravers. We only have to wait a month, or so, for the arrival of the fourth and final season. Stay tuned… or whatever term applies to streaming.

“Professor T: Season 3,” mostly in German with English subtitles, streams on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Dec. 19.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars