Spies never go out of style, even if the wars they’re fighting do.
On the heels of 2016’s “The Night Manager,” AMC has bet on another John le Carre adaptation with “The Little Drummer Girl,” a caper set amid the 1970s Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Like “Night Manager,” it features A-list stars – Alexander Skarsgard, Michael Shannon and brilliant up-and-comer Florence Pugh – beautiful locations and cinematic direction, this time from director Park Chan-wook (“Stoker”), making his television debut.
But “Night Manager” was a simpler story with a cackling villain and clear moral boundaries, while “Drummer Girl” (Monday through Wednesday, 9 EST/PST, ★★★ out of four) is its near polar opposite, a tale of mixed loyalties, gray morality and futile fighting.
There’s far more context and complexity to the Middle Eastern conflict than “Drummer Girl” can address in six episodes that focus mostly on a white woman. The series’ piecemeal approach to explaining the grievances of both the Israelis and Palestinians feels like lip service, and it’s a frequent weakness. But thanks to Pugh’s fantastic performance and the offbeat style of Park’s direction, “Drummer Girl” mostly glosses over those flaws and marches to a thrilling beat.
Pugh stars as Charlie, a young, struggling actress with a penchant for lying and a flirtation with the radical left. Her talents on stage and a chance encounter with Michel, a Palestinian terrorist, makes her the perfect target for Israeli intelligence officer Gadi (Skarsgard), who’s part of a plan masterminded by Mossad spymaster Kurtz (Shannon) to take the terrorists down.
Gadi and Kurtz recruit Charlie to pose as Michel’s lover and infiltrate his organization while they follow the leads she unearths. The deeper Charlie gets into the Palestinians’ cause, the less sure she is that she’s on the right side.
Source: Read Full Article