Lovejoy - The Complete Season 1
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charlotte Edwards, Ian McShane, Terence DackombeBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 500 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
Movie Reviews of Lovejoy - The Complete Season 1
Movie Review: British Wiseguy
Summary: 5 Stars
Ah, Lovejoy...(by the way, that's what he prefers to be called, just Lovejoy, no first name, no nickname). How does one describe the man?
He's a bit hard to categorize, actually. Perhaps if we mentioned the things he's NOT. Not your typical bloke in any sense of the term. Not a "working stiff" like most of us. Lives by his wits. No health insurance, no mortgage, no car payments, no steady income. Not married, but he does have a older teenage daughter who shows up in later seasons. No steady girl, but he has a certain special attachment to the married and titled, wealthy and attractive Lady Jane Felsham.
Bit of a rogue is Lovejoy. But he's a certified antiques and art expert. Not above doing a bit of forgery, skullduggery, and chicanery, and he relishes doing it, particularly if his victim happens to be pompous, or greedy, or unscrupulous, or....even murderous. Lovejoy can spot a fake, a forgery or a "repro" (reproduction) from a mile away, and he can read people like books. He's just a bit smarter when it comes to collectibles; he's a born "divvy"; he has that very, very special ability to "divine"--as in "divining rod"--the true worth of an old painting, an antique desk, or a pair of ancient duelling pistols. He's rarely wrong.
Ian McShane, sporting the perfect '80's mullet, absolutely nails the character. I cannot imagine anyone other than McShane playing him. He's a good-looking guy and has just the right combination of swagger, charm, cool, and seedy sophistication. He's usually seen in jeans, leather jackets and t-shirts, and might wear boots or high top black sneakers. Dressing up for him might mean a sportcoat over the jeans. He makes wisecracks directly to the camera. He's not at all intimidated by the upper classes; in fact, his pretty disdainful of them. Loves to tweak their snooty, snotty noses and bring them down a peg or two.
There are certain things and people in this series which just make it so perfectly appealing. The acting is so good that you feel that you are there with Lovejoy and his sidekicks, the youthful Eric and the canny Tinker. The scenes in the auction houses, art galleries and antique shops all ring of authenticity. The beauty of the English countryside is always apparent, and the scenes in the small towns and marketplaces are wonderful to behold.
Someday I'd like to own all the seasons of Lovejoy. It's one of the best British series I've seen: totally unique and fun. The series is based on the books by Jonathan Gash, which are as unique and fun as the TV show.
Summary of Lovejoy - The Complete Season 1
Ian McShane (Deadwood) stars as the irresistible rogue with a keen eye for antiques, intrigue and beauty. Just call him Lovejoy. This antiques dealer and part-time detective scours the murky salesrooms, auction halls and stately homes of Britain, always on the lookout for a find or a quick buck. As if the antiques business isn't exciting enough, Lovejoy has a particular weakness for a good sob story or a pretty face, either of which is enough to send him off in pursuit of villains and help victims recover their property. Whether it's a priceless old master or a pretty young lady, his love of beauty is sure to land him in trouble wherever he goes."I've been in more hot water than a tea-bag," declares rapscallion antiques dealer Lovejoy, played with devilish charm by Ian McShane (Deadwood, Sexy Beast). And indeed he has: Whether his quarry is a forged snuffbox, a pair of pistols, or an Arab wedding headdress, he always seems to run afoul of greedy collectors, unscrupulous dealers, and scheming lowlifes. How does he triumph? By being just as greedy, unscrupulous, and scheming as they are! This raffish mysteries series, set in the world of English antiques, revels in roundabout plots and oddball characters, but its success rests on McShane's shoulders. Some episodes are sluggish (the one with an axe-wielding lunatic after a Welsh dresser never quite takes off) and some are deft (a forger's heart attack in the middle of a cricket match leads to an underground crypt, with a phony priest and an upper-class nymphomaniac along the way), but McShane is always captivating as he zips around the countryside in his battered yellow station wagon or clings to his assistant's motorcycle sidecar. The ten episodes of this first season (followed, after a hiatus due to some contractual problems, by five more) feature a Japanese firefly cage, Roman coins, mysterious love letters, and Machiavellian identical twins, as well as run-ins with Lovejoy's prat of a rival, Charlie (Malcolm Tierney) and flirting with the posh Lady Jane (Phyllis Logan). The supporting cast does a decent job (particularly Dudley Sutton as a boozy antiques expert), but they know they're just along for the ride. With his heavy-lidded eyes, rolling voice, and dangerously seductive smile, McShane's charisma is off the chart. He even carries off talking to the camera--you wish he was talking to you all the time. Fans of English mysteries who tire of the usual moral rectitude should give this bad boy a try. (The only extra is a brief interview with McShane, pleasant but unrevealing.) --Bret Fetzer
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