JACK TAYLOR: SET 1

Jack Taylor (US Region DVD) stars Iain Glen as the eponymous anti-hero of Ken Bruen's long-running mystery series. Taylor's a disgraced ex-Garda living in Galway, having been booted from the force for his disregard of the rules of police procedure, drunkenness, uncompromising and irascible behavior and particularly for slugging an Irish politician (deservedly so). The first series consists of 3 separate but related episodes based on the books The Guards, The Pikemen, and The Magdalen Martyrs.I won't run through the plots of the episodes, since they have been extensively analyzed by others. Mostly shot in and around Galway (with some limited interiors shot in Germany), the Taylor series makes the most of the beautiful, rainy and moody Irish city and its environs. Glen (a Scot, by the way), gets Taylor just right. He convincingly shows us Taylor's fundamental decency and commitment to helping those who need it, all the while aware of his personal failings and the price he -- and his friends and allies -- always pay for his actions.The series is not without its faults. Chief among them is the need to provide a more rigid plot structure that moves things along. This is understandable, but loses a fair bit of the narrative lyricism of Bruen's written work, which does a much better job of conveying Taylor's own internal dialogue. Relationships are streamlined and made more conventional; Garda Kate Noonan seems to be a composite of at least two of the characters in the novels, particularly Garda Ridge. Though well played by the striking Nora-Jane Noone, the romantic tension seems a bit forced, and Garda Noonan ends up spending most of her time telling Jack to leave her alone because he's bad for her career (he is) while turning around the next minute and helping him out. One wishes more time was devoted to Jack's tortured relationship with his mother, beautifully played by Aine Ni Mhuiri, who harbors deep secrets of her own that come to light in the Magdalen Martyrs. In her brief screen time, Aine Ni Mhuiri creates one of the more memorable characters I've seen in many a year; she gives an acting master class in which her eyes and a soft touch convey more than pages of dialogue delivered by a lesser talent ever could.Devoted Bruen fans -- and I am certainly among them -- may well have trouble with the television series. In the end, like even the less than best of the books (Purgatory, in my view), the series is still far better than most. Give it a chance and you won't regret it.

I saw the first episode a while ago and didn't like the program--it seemed contrived and cliched. However my sister, a fan of the series, urged me to keep going and I'm happy that I did.First let me say that I can't think of a more versatile actor working today than Iain Glen. From Lordly to louche, he seems to be able to inhabit all sorts of characters. As Jack Taylor, a former policeman in the Irish Guards turned private investigator, even the timbre of his voice seems to have changed along with his accent--and is redolent of booze and cigarettes. Taylor has a lot of wounds stemming from childhood--and as he says at one point, 'I'm an Irish male, I deal with things by repressing them.' And by drinking like a fish.In the first episode Taylor gets involved with a beautiful femme fatale [ who hires him to find her daughter] after he is fired from the Gardai for assaulting a local politician.In the second, returning from a years absence to Galway he gets involved in an investigation surrounding the suspicious death of a man who has fallen off a building site and finds himself pursued both by the police and a vigilante group run amok. Along the way he picks up an enthusiastic young sidekick.The third episode is best, involving gross abuses in a Magdalene laundry facility where young women were interned, and during which the hidden past touches Taylor's life in a most personal way. Unlike some viewers, I did not find the events to be contrived or too coincidental --I always enjoy stories where lives cross and crisscross and seemingly random events turn out to be intertwined [ I looked up Galway and the population is about 77,000 --so it is not inconceivable that many people's paths have converged at some point].Interesting locations, good supporting cast and another stand out characterization/ performance by Glen. If you only know him from Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey, check out his earlier work in the incredible Bob Raphelson film Mountains of the Moon about the Burton-Speke expedition to discover the source of the Nile; as an intellectual gay drug addict in Painted Lady and as a gangster in Prisoner's Wives. Enjoyable.Three more episodes of Jack Taylor series have been released. I hope Amazon acquires them soon.

Enjoyed it a lot. but is it possible to ever have a detective with a death wish who doesn't drink himself into a coma and does all sorts of stupid things he later regrets, especially when the people around him are the ones who pay? Jack (is there any detective NOT called Jack these days) is good hearted but he looked like a used tea bag most of the time and gets in his own way. Iain Glen does his best with what he has to work with but the accent slips a lot. Plus he is constantly getting thumped and his performances can be a bit over the top. Worth a look because he is generally such a good actor and anyone who likes him as Jorah on Game of Thrones will enjoy this.I loved the scenery of Galway town and the surrounding land and seascapes.The storylines were interesting-a bit preditable only in that if you don't go for the obvious choice, then you have to go for a less obvious alternative, and the clock is ticking on each episode. Series 1 and 2 are both very good, so worth a watch.

This is gritty! Not your usual detective and very flawed. As the shows progress he reveals more weaknesses and somehow changes how he interacts with others. While some think he has more than his share of reverses others still show their backs to him. He is a loyal fried and that is his greatest quality! He knows how to take care of himself but he is constantly being overwhelmed by those who do not want him investigating for those who have asked him to help them. The language is raw and there is more violence than sex. The humor is tongue in cheek and sophisticated. He is not always wise, he makes a lot of mistakes, stumbles through investigations but ends up with as much in formation as here needs but like life there always seems to be a lot of loose ends. If you like you murder mysteries tidy Jack Taylor is not for you!

Although this is the well worn track of a Policeman under the cloud of the bottle - it's done so differently that it's fresh and acceptable. Jack cares enough for the right people and barely for himself. The stories have surprises all along the way and when I saw the series on t.v., I couldn't wait to buy the DVD's to watch it all again and again and have my friends enjoy them too. He's rough and ready if you like your heroes that way and I always like to see somewhere that I haven't been to but might like to go one day.

OK to watch. Quite ordinary.

Set in the West of Ireland, this series about a defunct cop who becomes an unwilling private investigator is brilliant. The first story lacks a bit of bite but the series gets better and better. Well worth watching.

this was one of the best shows I have seen in a long while iain glen is one of Briton best actors I would recommend this to anyone

It's totally engrossing. Great Irish atmosphere without the heavy accent and beautifully filmed. The plots are intricate and intelligent. Great!