Kate Isitt Movies
A successful mystery writer retreats to a remote fishing village following the tragic death of her son, only to become caught up in a bizarre supernatural murder mystery in this tale of terror directed by Craig Rosenberg and starring Demi Moore. Rachel Carson's (Moore) five-year-old son has drowned, and as a result her life appears to be falling apart at the seams. When a sympathetic friend rents Rachel a secluded cottage in hopes that a little peace and quiet will help the grieving mother recover from her loss, the quiet retreat is violently shattered by a series of bizarre and unexplained murders. Now with a community in fear and her sanity slowly slipping, Rachel must use her instincts to unmask the killer before it's too late and she too falls prey to the murderous rage that threatens to consume the once tranquil town. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Demi Moore, Hans Matheson, (more)
By the time the hit Britcom Coupling reached its fourth season in 2004, change was afoot. Newly moved from BBC2 to BBC3, the show also faced its first significant casting change: Richard Coyle abruptly left the series, effectively removing spastic man-child Jeff from the tight, six-member ensemble that had been together for 22 episodes. Though disappointed, series creator Steven Moffat whipped up a replacement in the form of Oliver (Richard Mylan), a comic-shop employee with adolescent hang-ups and dating woes similar to Jeff's. Initially introduced as a peripheral character, Oliver soon blossomed into a love interest for kooky Jane (Gina Bellman). Meanwhile, Patrick (Ben Miles) and Sally (Kate Isitt) settled into their tentative romance, while Steve (Jack Davenport) and Susan (Sarah Alexander) dealt with their impending parenthood. Even as the show maintained the more mature tone of the previous season, some longtime viewers complained bitterly about Jeff's absence -- and about the obvious similarities between him and Oliver. Jeff did, however, make a memorable appearance in the season finale, though not in the form his ardent fans might have expected. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
For its third season, BBC2's Coupling scales back to a shorter, seven-episode run even as its soap opera elements expand dramatically. The season begins with a breakup between two main characters and ends with an unexpected hook-up between two more. In-between, even Jane (Gina Bellman) finally gets a steady boyfriend of sorts. Stylistically, creator/writer Steven Moffat takes the most innovative elements of his established style and runs with them. One episode occurs entirely in split screen (inspired, it seems, by the Mike Figgis film Timecode). Another tells an entire story from two disparate points of view, mining comedy and real pathos from the difference between them. Not that Moffat skimps on the outright silliness: one episode revolves around a mole on one character's posterior, while another's plot revolves around the comic possibilities of an unlocked bathroom door. Ending, as the previous season did, on an emotional cliffhanger, Coupling's third season suggests that the casual raunchiness and episodic flow of the early installments will henceforth be tempered with dramatic plot twists and continuing storylines. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
The second season of Coupling picks up where the first left off, with sexual shenanigans providing fodder for all sorts of conceptual comedy stunts. But as creator/writer Steven Moffat makes his way through this longer, nine-episode run, his plots begin to accrue more emotional depth as his characters exhibit the humanity behind their various tics. The romance between Steve (Jack Davenport) and Susan (Sarah Alexander) continues to function as the nucleus around which the more extreme characters spin. Against all odds, Patrick (Ben Miles) and Sally (Kate Isitt) drift toward some sort of connection, while Jane (Gina Bellman) and Jeff (Richard Coyle) continue their outré antics. Eventually, even poor, bumbling Jeff finds a girlfriend of his own. Jane doesn't achieve a similar benchmark, but her shenanigans slowly reveal the loneliness underneath her outrageousness. Although some level of soap opera continuity is inevitable as a series progresses, Moffat's through-lines remain secondary to his comedic mission. When sentimentality does rear its head, it's only for a moment -- and usually just before or after a side-splitting set piece. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- 2000
Although Americans know Coupling primarily in the form of NBC's failed U.S. remake, the original British series has been a hit since it first aired on BBC2 in May 2000. Written by Steven Moffat and produced by his wife, Sue Vertue, the raunchy comedy follows the sexual and romantic exploits of six young professionals in London as they hang out in a pub, hunt for conquests, and reluctantly settle down with one another. Despite the three-guys, three-girls setup, any similarities to the hit U.S. sitcom Friends are superficial. Coupling is far more concerned with frank sex talk and romantic Darwinism than sentimentality and soap opera plotlines. Early episodes focused almost entirely on conceptual "knob gags" -- long setups and payoffs of an unfailingly vulgar nature. From sex toys to lesbian chic to one character's closet full of homemade porn, Moffat's scripts take R-rated dialogue as a given. As the series has progressed, however, its characters have essayed more mature relationships while remaining fixated on the intricacies of sex.
The relationship between flustered everyman Steve (Jack Davenport) and his icy blond girlfriend, Susan (Sarah Alexander), provides the show's nominal through-line, even as the more extreme characters earn more of the laughs. Patrick (Ben Miles), a Tory womanizer, represents one male extreme. The other comes in the form of Jeff (Richard Coyle), a juvenile sex addict afflicted by both performance anxiety and verbal diarrhea. As for the ladies, Jane (Gina Bellman) is the over-confident, deliberately kooky man-trap, while Sally (Kate Isitt) is the self-help addict obsessed with halting the aging process. Although each character starts out as little more than a collection of tics, time has deepened the emotional resonance of the entire cast.
After three seasons on BBC2, Coupling underwent some changes in its fourth season. Richard Coyle abruptly quit, leaving Moffat to replace Jeff with Oliver (Richard Mylan), a similarly bumbling man-boy. The show also moved over to BBC3. In America, the series first aired on PBS before migrating to the BBC America cable network. Despite their various levels of television experience, most cast members were relative unknowns when the series began. Only Jack Davenport, with the BBC hit This Life and the film The Talented Mr. Ripley under his belt, had much of a profile; he has since appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
The relationship between flustered everyman Steve (Jack Davenport) and his icy blond girlfriend, Susan (Sarah Alexander), provides the show's nominal through-line, even as the more extreme characters earn more of the laughs. Patrick (Ben Miles), a Tory womanizer, represents one male extreme. The other comes in the form of Jeff (Richard Coyle), a juvenile sex addict afflicted by both performance anxiety and verbal diarrhea. As for the ladies, Jane (Gina Bellman) is the over-confident, deliberately kooky man-trap, while Sally (Kate Isitt) is the self-help addict obsessed with halting the aging process. Although each character starts out as little more than a collection of tics, time has deepened the emotional resonance of the entire cast.
After three seasons on BBC2, Coupling underwent some changes in its fourth season. Richard Coyle abruptly quit, leaving Moffat to replace Jeff with Oliver (Richard Mylan), a similarly bumbling man-boy. The show also moved over to BBC3. In America, the series first aired on PBS before migrating to the BBC America cable network. Despite their various levels of television experience, most cast members were relative unknowns when the series began. Only Jack Davenport, with the BBC hit This Life and the film The Talented Mr. Ripley under his belt, had much of a profile; he has since appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
The first season of BBC2's Coupling remains unfailingly prurient throughout its six episodes. Entire plotlines revolve around, say, the size of one character's endowment or another character's alleged bisexuality. But the raunchiness functions as more of a backdrop than anything else. The real key to the show's humor lies in its elaborately conceived comic set pieces, which, sexually charged as they are, draw their laughs from classic slapstick and witty dialogue rather than truly explicit content. The first episode, of course, is devoted to introducing the ensemble: Jack Davenport as everyman Steve, Ben Miles as womanizing Patrick, Richard Coyle as sex-starved Jeff, Sarah Alexander as witty Susan, Kate Isitt as insecure Sally, and Gina Bellman as ditzy Jane. With Steve and Susan's nascent relationship providing the focus, Jeff and Sally serve as the main couple's respective best friends; Patrick and Jane, though initially introduced as Steve and Susan's ex-lovers, soon bond with the others into a tight little circle of friends. As the series limns the peculiarities and downright absurdities of each character, creator/writer Steven Moffat establishes his auteurist voice: occasionally scrambled chronology that exacts maximum humor from every situation, running gags that take their time getting to the payoff, and the depiction of the same events from both sides of the Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus divide. By the end of the season, the ensemble may not have gained much psychological or emotional depth, but the dynamics between the characters have been firmly established -- as have the show's stylistic hallmarks. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
