More than 2.1 million people have already watched the first episode of HBO’s hotly anticipated mini series, Big Little Lies.
An adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book of the same name, it stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley as seemingly perfect suburban mums who become embroiled in a murder.
Listen to Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk explain why Big Little Lies is unlike anything we have seen before on The Binge.
But while it’s dominated watercooler talk, the critics aren’t so impressed.
1.It’s too full of cliches.
According to Mike Hale of the New York Times, it’s too unoriginal.
“The real problem with “Big Little Lies” is that the women’s stories, however well acted and artfully photographed, are just a compendium of clichés about upper-middle-class angst,” he wrote in his review.
While the everyday concerns of the primary characters may at first seem ‘trivial’, given that we see most of the characters in relation to their young children, this should almost be expected.
Plus, not only is it purposeful to juxtapose the darker truth that underlies them, it’s also extremely accurate. That relatability is largely what made the book – and the film – resonate with so many.
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson summed it up perfectly when he wrote, “Though it covers some awfully well-worn subject matter, Big Little Lies is, in its curious way, like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Top Comments
I think they moved it to America instead of Australia so that American's would watch it (American's are notorious for not understanding other accents or being particularly interested in anything outside of America). Yes, the themes apply pretty much anywhere in the world, but it will lose the Australian flavour. I will watch it when I get the chance, but I just love the cricket scenes, and that won't be American enough to make the cut, I'm guessing!
So many reviewers are male and cannot see film and TV from a female point of view - there needs to be more female reviewers in order to get a more balance perspective on things.