Tweet This Page

Review of "Mr. Mercedes" 9/26/17 by Suzanne
airs Tuesdays on Audience

I enjoy Stephen King's novels, but the movies and TV show adaptations of his novels are not always so great. This one is. It's a really good detective story with great acting.

Harry Potter alum Brendan Gleeson shines as a retired cop, Bill, who's having a hard time dealing with retirement. Moreover, one of his unsolved cases has come back to haunt him.

This is an unusual detective story in that we see pretty quickly who the killer is.  The cat-and-mouse game between cop and killer is what keeps it interesting. 

Bill reminds me a little bit of the cop in the great British show "Cracker," except he only drinks and eats badly. He's not a womanizer or a gambler.  He's also a lot more realistic.

You can watch the first few episodes on their website if you don't have DirecTV. Audience is a channel only for DirecTV useres.  Or you can wait until it comes out on DVD. It's definitely worth watching.

MORE INFORMATION:

AT&T AUDIENCE Network® New Original Series “Mr. Mercedes” Premieres Aug. 9

The new AT&T* AUDIENCE Network original series from Sonar Entertainment, “Mr. Mercedes,” is premiering Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Watch it exclusively on AUDIENCE Network through DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse, and DIRECTV NOW.

“Mr. Mercedes” is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King. David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies,”“Boston Legal,” and “Ally McBeal,”) wrote and adapted for television and Jack Bender (“Lost,” “Under the Dome,” “Game of Thrones”) directed multiple episodes. The duo serve as executive producers, along with King and Temple Hill Entertainment's Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey. Sonar Entertainment is producing and distributing worldwide outside the US.

“Mr. Mercedes” stars Brendan Gleeson (“Harry Potter”) as Detective Bill Hodges, Harry Treadaway (“Penny Dreadful”) as Brady Hartsfield, Kelly Lynch (“Magic City”) as Deborah Hartsfield, Jharrel Jerome (“Moonlight”) as Jerome Robinson, Scott Lawrence (“Avatar”) as Detective Peter Dixon, Robert Stanton (“Mercury Rising”) as Anthony “Robi” Frobisher, Breeda Wool (“Unreal”) as Lou Linklatter, Justine Lupe (“Francis Ha”) as Holly Gibney, and Ann Cusack (“Nightcrawler”) as Olivia Trelawney, with Mary Louise-Parker (“Weeds”) as Janey Patterson, and Holland Taylor (“The Truman Show”) as Ida Silver.

“Mr. Mercedes” follows a demented killer Brady Hartsfield (Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges (Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.

Stephen King describes “Mr. Mercedes” as his first hard-boiled detective tale. The novel was published by Scribner in June 2014 and became an immediate No. 1 New York Times Bestseller upon its release.  Shortly after the release of the novel, King announced that “Mr. Mercedes” was the first of a projected trilogy. The second novel, “Finders Keepers,” was published by Scribner in June 2015, and the third novel, “End of Watch,” was published by Scribner in June 2016. 

AUDIENCE Network offers a compelling lineup of original, provocative content. Its growing slate of critically acclaimed original series includes:

• MMA drama “KINGDOM,” starring Frank Grillo and Nick Jonas.
• Crime drama “ICE,” starring Cam Gigandet, Jeremy Sisto, Ray Winstone, and Donald Sutherland.
• “Poly-romantic” comedy “YOU ME HER” starring Greg Poehler, Rachel Blanchard and Priscilla Faia.
• Suspense-drama “ROGUE,” starring Cole Hauser, Meaghan Rath and Ashley Greene.

AT&T AUDIENCE Network is available on DIRECTV Ch. 239 or U-verse TV Ch. 1114 and via live streaming on the DIRECTV and U-verse apps and DIRECTV NOW.