A Very English Scandal (2018)

A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL  (2018)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Stephen Frears
    Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Alex Jennings,
    Patricia Hodge, Monica Dolan, Paul Hilton,
    Rhys Parry Jones, Michele Dotrice, Morgan Watkins
A three-part, three-hour miniseries from Amazon, based on the true story of Jeremy Thorpe, the British member of Parliament and Labor Party leader whose career came crashing down when he was charged with plotting the murder of his gay lover, a sometime stableboy and dog walker named Norman Scott. It's done as a black comedy, and as with a lot of British films, much of the narrative tension revolves around class. Thorpe feels so secure in his world of privilege, he believes he can get away with murder - and he may be right. Norman, who has a sizeable working-class chip in his shoulder, knows he's screwed no matter what, but desperately wants his voice to be heard. It's really a movie about people who lie, and what happens when they're found out. Hugh Grant plays Thorpe as if he'd just eaten something awful and can't get the taste out of his mouth. He's so good, you'd like to kick his teeth in. Whishaw plays Norman as a walking wound, needy, angry, instinctively shrewd, and from Thorpe's point of view, dangerous. Through it all and despite it all, gnawing away at both men is the painful, inescapable fact that they love each other. They can't help it. It's their tragedy. It's their curse.