Acorn Media
Release date: May 26th, 2009
MSRP: $39.99
Stars: Anthony Head, Warren Clarke, Dean Lennox Kelly
When I first heard the premise of The Invisibles, I was than enthusiastic. I had a reviewer lined up, but scheduling conflicts prevented her from handling this. So I reluctantly stepped forward to check it out.
I was more than a little surprised, and certainly impressed, by what I saw.
Maurice “Mo” Riley (Anthony Head) and Syd Woolsey (Warren Clarke) are a pair of retired master burglars. Along with a third partner (now deceased), they were known as The Invisibles and were quite legendary. When this series opens, Mo and his wife have moved into a quiet retirement complex, with Syd living next door.
Of course this would not be much of a series if all we saw was a pair of retired burglars drinking beer.
So early in episode one, Syd’s moron son is in financial troubles (He owes a loan shark a bunch of money). Mo convinces Syd to let his son deal with it by himself, but when said son gets beaten up, Mo reluctantly agrees to help Sid secure the money.
Hadley, the owner of a nearby pub happens to be the son of their deceased partner (Ain’t that convenient?). He attempts to convince them to let him become the third Invisible, only to be rejected.
But when Syd and Mo get caught robbing the aforementioned loan shark, Hadly comes to their aid with a rather impressive speech and beatdown of the loan shark and his muscle.
The Invisibles is a good series, but I can’t help but think it could have been great. Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) does an outstanding job as Mo. Almost right off the bat, he seems to find his character and makes it his own. The supporting cast does a good job, but Head really shines. Watching this, I find myself wanting more of him. Somebody needs to sign this guy and put him in a good series ASAP.
The writing is the weak point of The Invisibles. The characters are nicely written, and they do a solid job of mixing humor and drama, but the actual crimes almost feel like an afterthought. Rarely did I feel like these two were the best of the best. I would have liked to have seen more of their skills. Show us the mojo that made them folk heroes.
I enjoyed the set a lot more than I thought I would. The stars have chemistry and the stories, while not great, were strong enough to keep my attention. Fans of light to medium crime fare should have a good time with THE INVISIBLES.
Order THE INVISIBLES – Series One.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.
