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Reviews
Ozark (2017)
Inaccurate Portrayal
I will be honest, I'm about four episodes in, and I couldn't care any less about what happens with the rest of the show. It does not have me hooked, on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, or even invested in the characters. They're unlike-able. The plot has too many holes. And the writers seem to have thrown things in for the shock factor. Except it's not shocking. Just insulting.
Having lived in Missouri my entire life, including four years in the fine town of Lake Ozark (Yes, that's the name of the town. Yes, the lake is called The Lake of the Ozarks.), I can assure you that it is not in "southern Missouri" as is stated in the first two episodes. Find it on a map and you'll see it's very much centrally located.
Having also lived in Springfield, Mo, I can assure you that even down in actual southern Missouri, people do not talk like Julia Garner portrays in her character Ruth Langmore. Her over-acting accent grates on my nerves as it seems like they are trying to make people from my state appear slow and uneducated (not that people with southern accents are, but they are often perceived as such). Combine her over the top accent with the portrayal of the other "locals" in the show and you would think the lake area is filled with uneducated, redneck, hillbillies straight out of Drliverance. Even the inept grocery clerk who couldn't produce the pistachio ice cream. Or the guy sitting at the bar of the Blue Cat the first time Bateman's character visits. Despite the recent NAACP travel advisory against Missouri, you'll find many of us mid-westerners are known for our kindness and human decency, not calling people r*t*rds due to chromosomal conditions. I keep waiting for the Byrdes to meet real people. The kind of people I actually know more of than the ones like those portrayed.
Furthermore, they make the lake area look like a dump. The brief shot of the strip (the area near Bagnell Damn where Jonah is seen walking in the first episode was practically deserted and that's not how it is. Ever. Even in the winter. And it's not winter. The characters are regularly wearing t-shirts, sleeveless shirts, shorts... prime tourist season. The strip would have been packed. Where are the million dollar homes that actually surround the lake? Oh, I know! They're actually at the lake! Not in Georgia! While the strip scene was actually on the real strip, much of the rest is not actually filmed at our beautiful lake in our beautiful state. (We are NOT fly-over country and actually have a lot to offer tourists.)
Bateman and Linney are fine. Honestly, I feel like they both have one role they play over and over. Linney has referenced a brother with issues... which made me think she's the same character as in Love Actually. It'd be great to see expression or emotion or even chemistry from either or both of them.
Let's not forget the tiny little john boat Bateman takes out in the first (maybe second?) episode is laughable. Nobody in their right mind would take that dinky thing on the lake. It is a busy, high traffic lake, with wakes that would capsize that boat in minutes. Oh and when the sheriff said Ruth was living with her uncles in the cove... the cove?!? Which one?!? Ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as saying the lake is in southern Missouri.
The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I - Red Rose of the House of Tudor (2000)
Based on Children's Books
I have not seen any of the series but I would like to say that it is based on a series of books written for preteen and teen children. The comment by the user that rated it 1 out of ten said that it would only appeal to you if you were 1)twelve, 2) female, etc... Well, he or she hit it right on the money considering that was who it was written for! Now, I don't know about the acting or anything, but I think it would be worth it to give it a chance. I didn't even know they had made it for TV except I was looking at the page for the girl that plays the oldest daughter in Mrs. Doubtfire and it said she had appeared in the one about Queen Isabel. If you don't enjoy it portrayed on TV, I strongly recommend the books, if not for you then for a daughter, niece, or grandchild.