Mikes Film Talk

In The Catch, due to air  24 March on ABC Mireille Enos plays cat and mouse with her former business partner and fiancee in a  plot and presentation that feels all too familiar. Created by Jennifer Shuur who is also executive producer (Hannibal, Hostages), the pilot is helmed by Brit director Julie Anne Robinson and the opening shot from the new series feels like a McG production. 

A mixture of the Shadowhunters pilot and (going way back here) the 2003 film  Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle are in evidence here. Although the recent series of Cassandra Clare’s YA adaptation is more obvious.

To give Robinson her due, Hollywood does have a tendency to blatantly copy what looks good, regardless of whether it works or not.  For example:  In the Guy Ritchie 2008 film RocknRolla; there  are a couple of shots where Ritchie opted to use “mini” mini cams to capture somewhat distorted close-ups of actor’s faces. Once during a chase sequence and the other scene dealt with firing an automatic weapon.  This technique has been used repeatedly since that film in both television and film.

So it comes as no surprise that this new crime, drama, thriller has an opening episode that offers a style that looks so much like other shows on offer, and not just on ABC either. The pilot of The Catch offers split screens, dissolves (into more split screens) as well as rapid camera tracking that shifts from one individual to another and all these camera techniques are backed with snappy/catchy tunes meant to convey excitement and a sort of cultural relativity.

The storyline has a successful private investigative company, which is heavy on the strong female front,  where Alice Vaughn (Enos) is engaged to be married to the suave and terribly well off Christopher, aka, Kieran Booth (Peter Krause).  Enos is a proactive and quite physically adept operative who is not afraid to tackle the baddies.

The pilot starts with an attempted art theft and then shifts into industrial espionage. As the team begin to narrow down their search for the instigator of the industrial miscreant, Alice’s wedding plans move forward.

As the they narrow in on the latest conspirator, they lose their target.  Christopher gets a check from Alice for $1.4 million and then disappears.  He also leaves with all the company’s files and money.

Alice’s business specializes in preventing fraud and theft and as they attempt keep their clients from learning that their accounts have been hacked, she moves to find Christopher and to regain the firm’s money and confidential files.  Meanwhile, it looks like “Christopher” may really care for his former fiancee.

The cast is filled with television “regulars” who have appeared in numerous shows. Some of the actors have been on projects together in the past, Brit actress Sonja Walger worked on Parenthood, as has Krause.  Rose Rollins plays Enos’ character’s “former maid of honor” and business associate and there are a total of nine characters in the show’s credits list which could make this an ensemble piece but based on the pilot it is not likely.

The emphasis is on Enos’ Alice which is perfectly understandable. Mireille has proven her acting chops are mighty both on the big screen Gangster Squad, World War Z, and small The Killing, can carry this series no problem.  From the start, it does seem to really be about her and that nefarious former fiancee Kieran (Krause.)

The Catch looks like another fast-paced and “clever” crime/thriller with attractive people who all make loads of money and dress in designer threads.  Still, the pilot is interesting, despite the too loud soundtrack that threatens to drown out the actors, another McG trait that director Robinson opted to use for the pilot.

The new series airs March 24 on ABC. Tune in and see just how gorgeous Mireille and the rest of the cast are and for the music, if for no other reason.

Verdict:

The jury is still out.