THE UNDOING. A murder mystery. And a wrinkle disappearance mystery.

BEWARE--SPOILERS LURK BELOW

This is the midweek what-to-watch edition of Snarky Senior — the newsletter from Erica Manfred, which you can read about here. If you like it and don’t want to miss an issue, you can get it in your inbox by subscribing.

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Like the rest of you binge watchers I was glued to the latest HBO RPP (Rich People Porn) TV series, The Undoing with Hugh Grant, Nicolle Kidman and Donald Sutherland.   RPP is just too much vicarious fun to pass up.  Who doesn’t love watching gorgeous people close to our age in designer clothes who live in mansions commit crimes of passion, which then lands them in a shitload of trouble which they have to buy their way out of. 

At first it seems like the putative killer played by the still sexy Hugh Grant will have to face consequences, just like anyone would if they saw fit to beat someone to a bloody pulp with a hammer.  But Hugh’s character doesn’t stay for long in Rikers--a million bucks in bail is no biggie for his wife’s family—and he gets to just wander around NY with no ankle bracelet and no police surveillance while he drops into plot holes big enough for a Range Rover or two.  

I am no purist when it comes to plot.  In fact I’m the kind of idiot who watched LOST for 121 episodes and just ignored the fact that it had no discernible storyline.  So the Undoing wasn’t a stretch for me in the story department, despite the protagonist failing the Murder 101 course:

• Get rid of the murder weapon--don’t take it back to your summer house and hide it in some lame place for your son to find.  

• Don’t try to frame your own son.

• Don’t tell your wife who you cheated on about your psychopathic past right before your murder trial.

 Even for someone like me to whom suspension of disbelief comes naturally, the big courtroom reveal at the end was hard to buy.  But somehow I didn’t care.   Watching Hugh Grant’s smile—and eventual glower,  Donald Sutherland’s eyebrows and Nicolle Kidman’s hair was all the entertainment I needed to stay engaged. 

And Nicolle and Hugh have hot sex—with each other—and they’re both over 50.  Are times changing in Hollywood or was this an aberration?   I’ve actually read a couple of complaints on social media that the actors were too old for the roles.

Take that millennials!!  And Gen Z.  Your parents’ generation is still sexy.

Speaking of age, it’s not easy to pull off courtroom reveals these days when everyone has seen real trials. Courtroom drama where the truth comes out of a witness on the stand worked better in the age of Perry Mason, in the early days of TV, when cameras hadn’t been in actual courtrooms for 30 years and we weren’t all legal experts. 

  But since the O.J. Trial with a real life Johnny Cochran getting his client off when he’s clearly guilty with theatrical ploys like gloves that don’t fit, it’s hard to buy the hapless defense lawyer in The Undoing who manages to become a patsy for her client—something you know Johnny Cochran would never allow to happen.   

Even more unbelievable is Nicolle Kidman’s face.  The woman is 53 years old forgodsakes.  She could be playing a vampire.   With not a wrinkle, not a blemish, and very little expression, she could be 300 years old or 30 years old, it’s impossible to tell.   The part calls for her to be unreadable which is convenient because it’s hard to tell if the facial immobility is due to Botox or method acting.

  Her huge mass of red curls was like another character competing with her face.  It was difficult to know what to look at.

Hugh Grant, on the other hand, looks every day of his sixty years and I mean that in a good way.   I prefer my man candy with some weathering and Hugh can still charm the leaves off the trees.  The fact that he turns out to be a psychopath in this series is icing on the cake.

  An interviewer asked Grant if he’d ever killed someone on-camera before. Was this a first?  He answered:  “It’s a good point! I should know the answer! I don’t think I have killed anyone. But I very much enjoyed it, and I’d like to do a lot more.” 

Works for me.  I’m fine with Hugh in a rom com or a murder mystery.  He can meet cute, or kill cute, as long as I get to see that killer smile.  

As for Donald Sutherland, he’s more my age and I certainly wouldn’t throw him out of bed.  The combination of menace and tenderness he shows in the Undoing is mesmerizing…and sexy.  I don’t know why he was never cast in a romantic role. 

Calling Hollywood!  How about a late life love story with Sutherland and say, Meryl Streep?

And calling Nicolle Kidman, puleeze let yourself get old.  Or at least a little older.  Your face is begging for a few wrinkles—you are a wise woman—why not look like one?  Even when your face is frozen, we can’t take our eyes off you.  You have the amazing presence that great actors possess.

  I will never understand why Hugh Grant is allowed to get old but Nicolle Kidman isn’t.  OK I do understand but it really pisses me off.    

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