Defending Jacob - Family-court drama on Apple +

Captain America in an expensive business suit as an assistant public prosecutor? Why not? Chris Evans is primarily a great actor, who occasionally wants a break from roles in super-hero series like the Avengers. After all, a similar role (family drama) Ewans had in 2017, Gifted. Michelle Dockery is a great theatre and film actress nominated for an Emmy in Downton Abbey as many as three times. Jaeden Martell is a seventeen-year-old who already has roles in blockbusters - It and Knives Out. In the latter, he had already had the opportunity to perform with Chris Evans.

I have now introduced you to the nucleus of the Defending Jacob series. Three great actors, playing the Barber family who are in a whirlwind of dramatic events, following the murder of schoolboy Ben Rifkin. The murder happened in the small town of Newton, Massachusetts. In a small park right next to the high school, the body of a boy named Ben Rifkin was found, stabbed three times in the chest. Andy Barber - starring Chris Evans, is an assistant public prosecutor and is leading the investigation. Until suspicion falls on his son Jacob - starring Jaeden Martell. Jacob is an introverted boy who has been abused by the murdered Ben Rifkin. But is that enough as a motive for the murder? Andy transfers from the prosecutor's office to his own son's defence team. Over time, clues pile up, the trial is already quite certain, and everyone in the Barber family is dealing with shocking events as best they can. Genetics is also receding, secrets from the past are being brought to light. Nothing in the world matters anymore, except the survival of a family that is collapsing a bit under the weight of a tragic event.

If you are now expecting some fierce legal entanglement after writing a summary - you are wrong. It is a drama about a family, which from a typical image of the American dream, suddenly touches only the bottom of human suffering. Everyone in the family deals with the tragedy that is systematically ruining their lives in their way. The main figure is the great Chris Ewans. He has shown that he is an actor who can deal with an emotional, balanced approach to the role. The role of Andy Barber, who is a bit arrogant at the beginning but also a respected assistant public prosecutor, is not easy at all. From a man who has a perfect family, a perfect house in the suburbs and a great career ahead of him. To a desperate father who knows what the system can do to his only son if it is proven that he killed a peer. Evans did a very good job.

 But an equally good job was done by Michelle Dockery. She is an emotional counterbalance to the series, a prisoner and son completely devoted to Andy. Doubt tears her apart from so that she simply cannot function as a mother and as a human being. Before the horrific, threatening storm that threatens to shatter her little perfect family, Laurie Barber was a respected member of the community. A classic image of a successful wife, who participates in charity events and gala dinners. But it all came crashing down in an instant and her best friend turned her back on her. She is left alone, but unlike her husband Andy, she is not so familiar with the legal apparatus. She can't help but think that everything that is happening is true. Torn by doubts, she seeks help and understanding, even from strangers, who look friendly - a great scene in a restaurant, when her vulnerability is exploited by a journalist vulture. Michelle Dockery carries all that unbearable emotional weight on her shoulders.

A kid who grows up in a family that somewhat resembles the American suburban dream, Jacob Barber. An introverted, sensitive and very intelligent teenager, he finds himself in a whirlwind of unpleasant events. He finds it hard to bear because, from a kid around whom the lives of mom and dad revolve, he turns into a potential killer. He has no way of convincing Mom and Dad (us after all) that he is not guilty. He copes with the inevitable trial as he knows how. Closed in on himself, his closest schoolmate is now the main witness against him. His only family is a straw of salvation, but even that is not forever. It may seem a bit cold to us, the storm is approaching, his reaction is stoic anticipation. After all, each of us would react according to our character, as best we can. Jaeden Martell is another big trump card of the Defending Jacob series. He looks and wins - the little wizard Harry Potter. Put on his glasses and you will get a picture and a chance of a popular boy with a magic wand. But regardless of our innocent appearance, Martell somehow manages to keep us on a constant line of belief, guilty or not? Sometimes they would put their hand in the fire if he was a killer, but right after that we are convinced that there is no chance that he is a killer. As soon as he does it so well, it means he did a good job.

Everything we’ve written so far about the series may seem like another in a series, ‘Who’s the Killer?’, A thriller series. It's not like that. This is less focused on the question of who committed the crime. The question here is how to deal with the accusation that your child is a possible perpetrator. How the whole family copes with a difficult situation. before

ma public, friends and community. How they treat each other, and especially how they individually experience this stressful situation. We can easily identify with each of them individually. It means the cast did a great job. They are the driving force behind this mini-series. What can be blamed on the story itself is the slow development of the situation. The tension builds from the first episode, and the maximum is reached after the third. Then everything is slightly diluted under pressure. Certain situations are repeated, and the climax is somewhat unnecessarily spiced with a twist. Every mini-series has to end somehow, but still, the impression remains that the end of the story, which is built through eight episodes, is slipping away.

As much as the slower pace can reduce the experience a bit, a great cast, the series still rises above average. After all, the data on the viewership of the series on Apple +, show that already now, ten days after the last episode aired, Defending Jacob is the second most-watched series, ever on the Apple + stream service.