Rowling's 'Casual Vacancy' makes for gripping yet bleak HBO miniseries
Don't look for any boy wizards, giants or Hippogriffs in “The Casual Vacancy.”
Author J.K. Rowling keeps her first non-“Harry Potter” novel firmly anchored in the all-too-real world of recognizably human characters in a tale that is gripping, compassionate yet often almost unbearably downbeat.
Those qualities translate to the three-part, three-hour miniseries adaptation premiering Wednesday and Thursday, April 29 and 30, on HBO, with one added bonus: It's brilliantly acted by a superb cast.
Set in what seems to be a postcard-pretty English village called Pagford, the story quickly reveals that this community is sharply divided along class lines. A battle is shaping up over the future of a local community center that houses a methadone clinic serving the drug-addicted lower classes. Wealthier residents — including parish council chairman Howard Mollison (Michael Gambon) and his sunny but malicious wife, Shirley (Julia McKenzie) — would love nothing more than to close the center and turn the country house that contains it into a chic spa.
Their chief adversary on the council in this regard is Barry Fairbrother (Rory Kinnear), whose boundless empathy for Pagford's poor serves as the beating heart of the village. Unfortunately, it's his brain that betrays him in the opening moments of the miniseries, as Barry suddenly drops dead of a cerebral aneurysm.
Barry's death opens a “casual vacancy” — an unexpected empty seat — on the council, and while Howard and Shirley halfheartedly tut-tut over Barry's passing, inwardly they're gleeful: If they can fill this seat with their spineless son, Miles (Rufus Jones), they'll have the majority they need to close the clinic.
The urgency to keep that clinic open is embodied by local teenager Krystal Weedon (newcomer Abigail Lawrie in a star-is-born turn), who is struggling to care for her baby brother while their mother (Keeley Forsyth) spends every dime she can find on heroin. Sadly, the only viable candidate to oppose Miles is hapless schoolteacher Colin “Cubby” Wall (Simon McBurney), a walking collection of social disorders and neuroses.
As the election approaches, any pretense toward neighborliness falls away as the class-driven rift widens even further. When the dust finally settles, few are left happy — including, perhaps, some viewers. This is not a drama that will send you off to bed with a smile.
Bursting with eccentric, vividly drawn characters in a story with a social conscience, Rowling's “Casual Vacancy” is in some respects a throwback to the novels of Charles Dickens. And like many Dickens adaptations, the piece gives some splendid actors a chance to shine.
Gambon, who played the sage Dumbledore in several of the Potter film adaptations, makes Howard both dangerous and somewhat buffoonish, while McKenzie brilliantly plays against her sweet little old Miss Marple image to make Shirley truly chilling. Cast against type as their brassy, bitter daughter-in-law, former ingénue Keeley Hawes, now 38, serves notice that she's ready for much harder-edged roles.
“The Casual Vacancy” will reward fans of great acting, if they can cope with some truly bleak moments.
“The Casual Vacancy”
Airs at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 29-30, on HBO