Prime Suspect: The Final Act (2006)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Admirable film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Jane Tennison is imperfect. She fits none of the moral imperatives that many of our media heroes seem to possess. What she does have is doggedness and skill at her craft. This is an incredible finale. One the eve of her retirement (she has no idea what to do next) she begins to drink heavily. She is also overwhelmed by the impending demise of her father, whom she idolizes. She starts work on her last case. A fourteen year old girl has disappeared. Soon it is realized that Sallie has more of a dark life than her parents imagined. She has started hooking up with some pretty serious characters at school. Her friend from across the street, a very pretty young girl, isn't totally truthful and Jane can't get a handle. Meanwhile, the drinking becomes over the top. She is having blackouts. She isn't remembering messages. She is also getting incredibly hostile and embittered. She and that neighbor girl begin to form a friendship. At one time, Jane almost gets them both killed, driving while drunk. Suspects are all over the place, including a young black man whom all the girls are crazy about.

Hfk from Oklohoma, another contributor here, describes seeing this the first time it aired and being a bit underwhelmed, but then seeing it again was really impressed.I totally agree with this comment! Have just finished watching it and feel compelled to write a review to encourage anyone to have a look at this, because:1. Like all first class television, the Prime Suspect series in general picks up on contemporary themes in culture and society and holds them up for us to see them closer. This final Prime Suspect does this so beautifully it will prove a rich source of information for future social historians. When we first meet Jane Tennyson she is a woman up against ingrained sexism in the Police Force, about 40 years old. When this was made (about 1991), it picked up on the generation of women who chose a career over the more traditional life map of marriage and children. Fast forward to 2006 and the ideology of the programme seems to have shifted. The writers almost appear to be punishing the character at times for pursuing a career. Also, the wonderful interrogation of teenage life in London. People will look back and laugh at the 'innit' speech of the kids here. Also, the over the top excessive use of the new technology: mobile telephones and constant texting. All excellently held up for us to ourselves and our world at the time.2. The acting is just outstanding. Even the bit parts are spot on here. Helen Mirren's performance here, well, put it this way, several times I muttered: 'What a brave performance' - just incredible. At a time where even young actors are getting botox and 'fillers' and starving themselves into submission, Mirren stares down the camera - and 'stares down' a film and television celebrity culture which insists on a cartoonish perfection. Remarkable. 3. The emotional fall out as this programme goes on is almost unbearable to watch at times. You empathise with these fallible human beings. It says a great deal for the writing that no one here is completely innocent or guilty. It says even more that you care so deeply about them all. Even the Headmaster. It would have been so easy to make him a nasty piece of work wouldn't it? He makes a terrible error of judgement.4. Which brings me to: 'The Final Act' - the very title holds connotations of a Shakespearian Tragedy......and this final act is a Tragedy. Literally. (A tragic figure for example is brought undone by the fatal flaw in their character) Tennyson and Otley: alcoholism. The Headmaster, a desire to escape his middle aged suburban responsibilities and falling for a student. 5. The thematic threads which link Jane's fondness for Penny and the Headmaster's infatuation for Sallie are beautifully realised. When Penny breaks into Jane's father's house late in the piece and mirrors the earlier scene of a drunk Jane dancing with her police hat on, I just marvelled at it all to be honest. Jane and the Headmaster both look to extreme youth to try and reclaim their own lost, carefree youth. 6. Finally, when so many television programmes constantly show people 'having a relaxing glass of wine' to 'unwind' from the stresses of their job, how refreshing to see alcohol in it's altogether more nasty guise. That hangover at the beginning - I could feel that nausea. Oh......loved the intertextual reference to Helen Mirren playing The Queen (Elizabeth 2), when she quips: 'Don't call me Ma'am. I'm not the Queen.'Give it another go if you only saw it in 2006. You will very likely (like a couple of us here) be shocked at just how emotionally wrenching this is to watch.

2007 Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries, and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act is as dynamic, brilliantly written, directed, paced, and acted as the rest of the series that started in 1991. The Final Act is filled with the unexpected plot turns and introduces interesting complex characters. Prime Suspect 7 was dedicated to the memory of Tom Bell (Otley) who returned as Sergeant Bill Otley and who died two weeks before the episode was screened. As in all Prime Suspects, Helen Mirren owns the screen as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison working on her last case before retirement. This time, Jane investigates the missing of a 14-year-old girl while struggling with her alcoholism and coping with her father's death from incurable cancer. She dedicated all her life, talent, energy, and heart to her work where she had proved to be the best but the price she paid is incredibly high. The Final Act introduces a young actress Laura Greenwood (born in 1991) as 14 years old Penny. The scenes she shares with Mirren are "nothing short of phenomenal," according to David Bianculli of the New York Daily News, and I hope that her following roles will be as impressive as her first work next to one of the greatest modern actresses.9.5/10

"The Final Act" is the splendid concluding episode of a (generally) gripping series. As in the very best crime dramas, the focus really isn't the plot or the "whodunnit?" but the character of the central players. And if Helen Mirren almost eclipses them, that's only a bonus for the viewer. The tension is generated not by the crime plot (which is serviceable but predictable) but from Mirren's gripping portrayal of the powerful and all-too-human Jane Tennyson who treads the tightrope of her final days in her career. She somehow manages to give us a woman who balances the angels and the devils in her character without once lapsing into the predictable or the incredible. And THAT's what keeps you leaning forward in your seat.God, but she's good!