HIT & MISS (eOne, 2012) Creator: Paul Abbott, w/ Chloë Sevigny, Karla Crome. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNNN
Strong, grounded emotion and a heartfelt performance by Chloë Sevigny turn what could have been an exercise in unintentional camp into an absorbing drama with a complex, sympathetic heroine.
Mia (Sevigny) is a pre-op man-to-woman transsexual and a contract killer for a mobster in northern England. She inherits guardianship of four children on a rundown farm outside the city.
The kids – 16, 13, 10 and five – are still grieving for their mother and acting out in strange ways. Riley (Karla Crome), the oldest, is actively hostile. Mia, morose, socially isolated and probably sociopathic, has no idea how to cope.
The first of the six hour-long episodes unfolds slowly. After that, the action picks up considerably, with trouble from the farm’s bullying landlord, Mia’s killings and the intrusion of her oily boss, plus Riley’s secret affair, the youngest boy’s identity confusion and lots more.
Sevigny ranges from dead-eyed killing zombie through self-appraisal, self-loathing, lively sexuality and helpless frustration. She makes more than a dick show of the few full-frontal nude shots and sex scenes. She and the rest of the cast understand that any attempt at tenderness comes with the awkwardness of mixed emotions.
In their interviews, Sevigny, creator Paul Abbott and writer Sean Conway have fascinating things to say about the character and the genesis of the project.
EXTRAS Cast and crew interviews. English audio and subtitles.
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