Desperate Measures (2022) User Reviews

Utterly implausible but still watchable.

[jdhb-768-61234 · 5/10 · 24 February 2023]

"Desperate Measures" suffers from having an illogical and, frankly, impossible plot. The villain is akin to a cartoon character while the bank manager and police officer are little different. That said, the principal characters do their best with what they've been given - ridiculous plot, a plethora of unlikely circumstances, and a fairly mundane script.

A less likely gang of bank robbers is not just hard to imagine, it's impossible to imagine. How a nervous bank cashier is transformed into their leader is a question better not even asked. However, if all of the impossibilities and other failings are put to one side, the series can be watched and even enjoyed. The story does move along at a decent pace and is interesting despite being so implausible. Rather oddly, I found myself reasonably gripped despite its deficiencies, and award it a 5, which somewhat surprises me.

Not bad

[bladebk · 5/10 · 22 February 2023]

For channel 5, not too bad actually. Don't get me wrong, you need to leave any sense of reality firmly at the door, but once you do and accept it for what it is, it's actually quite enjoyable so far.

A few things could have been done differently, such as the bad guy (too dog drug dealer), who is horribly miscast here. Also the storyline of sunetra sarkers character, whos mum drops a hot boiling pan and then all of a sudden she decides to help rob a bank; didnt really sit well with me. Plus, it has clearly been filmed in a European country on the cheap (not in the uk, despite it being set here), so all road signs and price tags in shops are blurred out or quickly rushed over, but it's done in quite a sloppy and amateurish way. All this being said, I'm looking forward to seeing how the next 2 episodes play out.

Excellent length series !

[lucienm-60321 · 7/10 · 13 January 2023]

This series is very good, I enjoyed it.

The fact is 4 episodes long which is the perfect length for this storyline.

A good person, a mother of a son who made bad choices, is forced to take "desperate measures" to get her son back.

Screenplay is very good and the story progresses well.

It has twists and turns leaving the viewer keen to watch what happens next.

Very good casting who deliver good performances.

The actor playing the main villain is quite believable in his role.

Storyline also shows how banks can be so insensitive to their employees as they are obsessed with the financial side and profits.

Overall, a very good series !

An OK drama despite the over acting of Amanda Abington.

[Janet1612 · 6/10 · 25 March 2024]

This was OK. A bit of a daft story with stereotypical characters, a baddie with a gun, a dumb drug runner and a dumber school kid. Single mum, short of money, kid somehow gets involved with drug baddies, mum now owes money. Luckily she works in a bank!!!.

It was such a shame that Abington felt the need to overact with the constant ridiculous facial expressions and her over the top touchy/feely actions and baby references to her teenage son. Actually he lapped it up which is odd - usually it'd be a 'gerrof' if mum tries to cuddle a teenage lad, and call him darling. She was always cupping his face in her hands and hugging him tightly. Too much. In most scenes she was putting all she learned in acting school into her performance - it makes it so unnatural, forced and a 'look at me, I'm acting'. She's a good actress and doesn't need to do thiis.

The outstanding actor in this series was Sunetra - playing Abington's work colleague . An understated, natural performance. No over acting, Nothing to annoy viewers.

Despite the appalling acting of the son (can't recall his name) and the ridiculous baddie, this it was watchable, if daft. Abington needs to curb her annoying facial expressions as they were a distraction.

Entertaining nonsense

[Bobalopacus · 6/10 · 7 March 2024]

When a plot requires unbelievable coincidences to drive it forward it risks breaking the viewers immersion, 'what's the chances of that happening!??', we wonder. Desperate Measures does this again and again, in fact I counted five consecutive major plot points all occurring in a single day within the story that included massively unlikely coincidences.

The plot then, is utter nonsense.

'So what?' some reviewers react...'it's not a documentary!'. No, it's not, but isn't a central reason we watch drama the desire to immerse ourselves in a fiction? If the writing pulls us out of this immersion, it's not working is it?

As for the acting, it's a mixed bag, the lead character, Rowan, is played by Abigail Abbington and she does a decent job, managing to just about keep a straight face and make the most of some pretty flat and uninspired dialogue. Sunetra Sarker is okay too, as Rowan's best friend and work colleague. The main 'baddy' looked like an emaciated Mr Bean and was about as intimidating, whilst the detective, played by Jonathan Nyati, might have been aiming for a 'strong, silent type' but was simply wooden and dull.

On the plus side, the whole thing rattles along at a reasonable pace and is entertaining. Whilst the lack of believability means an almost total lack of tension, I did still want to know how the story would resolve itself.

One of the reasons I write reviews is to keep track of what I watch and remind myself how I reacted to it. I have a suspicion that Desperate Measures is one of those mini-series that, in six months time, I will struggle to remember a single thing about. Maybe that's a reflection of my ailing memory but more likely this is symptomatic of a genre partially designed like fast food - don't think about it too much, just consume and enjoy in the moment.

Desperate is the right word for it...

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 3/10 · 22 February 2023]

Amanda Abbington did her best as a cashier who comes under suspicion when her bank is robbed but she had too little support to save the show.

Production values were poor, not sure where it was meant to be set, but it was shot in Hungary, for budget reasons I guess? Main problem was the cast, there were some awful actors in this, e.g. Her wooden boss and the HR woman, the baddies, her son and his friends etc.

The script was also weak and clunky, it was a potboiler plot full of improbablities with nothing original.

One you can safely give a swerve, it was terrible all round. Find something better and don't waste your time.

Well worth your time.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 11 March 2023]

Bank Employee Rowan Suffers a series of setbacks, she's made redundant, her estranged father returns, and her son Finn gets into trouble with a sadistic drug dealer.

Don't expect Desperate Measures to act as a straight up, feasible, run of The Mill series, it isn't. It's far fetched beyond belief, so you really do need to suspend your disbelief, if you can do that, youl will really enjoy this four part series.

The running time helps, four fast paced episodes, each offers something different, and will have you on that edge of your seat.

The extraordinary lengths a mother will go to for the love of her son, poor Rowan doesn't half have some bad luck.

When I saw that Amanda Abbington and Warren Brown were both appearing I had high hopes, and for the most part, it lived up to my expectations.

If you're scratching your head thinking that Manchester looks a little unusual, it's because it's Budapest, some interesting looking buildings are seen.

8/10.

Don't waste your time

[lucyryder · 3/10 · 23 February 2023]

There's some good actors in this series - I can only assume they all needed some extra cash to sign up to this poor script and poor production...

The plot is full of cliches and is very clunky... so much so that I didn't care what happened enough to watch the final episode... and only did so because I was on holiday with limited UK channels...

There's some good actors in this series - I can only assume they all needed some extra cash to sign up to this poor script and poor production...

The plot is full of cliches and is very clunky... so much so that I didn't care what happened enough to watch the final episode... and only did so because I was on holiday with limited UK channels...

Entertaining TV Drama

[davidgtaylor-81474 · 10/10 · 27 February 2023]

Forget all the claptrap of the low rated reviews who seem to have mistaken this TELEVISION entertainment drama for a documentary.

Don't overthink things, just watch it and enjoy it for what it is...entertainment.

For a TV show the production values were pretty good to be honest, none of the old Crossroads wobbly sets and the likes. Amanda Abingdon is very well cast and perfectly cast in the lead role and is totally believable. Warren Brown as the x-boyfriend is better than you'd expect and the rest of the ensemble cast do a fine job of filling the gaps in what is actually a really good gripping TV drama.

The plot is full of holes. Don't bother watching.

[gb-37552 · 3/10 · 15 March 2023]

The fact that it was filmed in Hungary seems to take away any realism. It clearly was not the UK. The characters weren't believable. The relationship between the detective and the uniformed constable was very unconvincing. The bank was very large yet there only appeared to be two cashiers, who were both being made redundant.

The ending was unreal. No mention of the unaccounted money. If all the protagonists were dead, where was it supposed to have gone?

As one of the other reviewers said, did the actors need the money and didn't bother about the plot holes?

It could, and should, have been so much better.

Unbelievably poor in every regard

[grahamstanton-91874 · 1/10 · 26 February 2023]

It is hard to describe such a poor poor script, plot and action. A complete and utter piece of drivel with no thread of reality. It moves between high improbable to completely ridiculous with acting that would be a akin to poor amateur dramatics. With nothing else worth watching, in the dessert of poor repeated plot drams that fill every channel, we hoped it would improve at least have a credible ending but alas it continues its poor quality throughout. To cap it all it ends with some philosophical claptrap about rights and wrongs as if it has some moral compass that it needs to share with the audience.

My advice is dont waste your time, there is no reward in this drama.

Gripping Drama

[littlemite-50971 · 10/10 · 27 February 2024]

Thoroughly enjoyed this drama. Well acted and full of twists and turns. Don't know why some reviewers go on about it being filmed in Hungary. I didn't even notice and thought it was shot in England. Who cares?

It was never explained who Fins father was and I was expecting him to turn up half way through and save the day.

Ideal for evening entertainment after a day at work. Did not want to pause it to put the kettle on, so is a good indication of how compelling it was. Some scenes had you on the edge of your seat. 4 episodes was long enough and unlike some dramas nowadays, it had a proper ending. Would recommend.

Amanda Abbington is far too good for this nonsense...

[ianlouisiana · 4/10 · 3 March 2023]

Imagine you work in a a bank and you've got three days to plan a bank robbery to replace 25 grand your son hasn't actually stolen from a drug baron who';s watche d too many movies about drug barons before said drug baron blows him away.

'Desperate Measures' goes on a road rather too well travelled by TV drama in the last few years and adds nothing to the genre apart from some dodgy moral equivalence issues and some notably wooden acting.

Not even the splendid Ms Abbington can make her character believable I'm afraid and when her ex and her dad turn a hand to help her out credulity is even further strained.

Around five thousand banks have been closed since 2015.

If they're all run like this one I'm not on the least surprised.

pretty good

[curtispeace · 8/10 · 5 March 2023]

This drama is pretty good really, sure, it's a story we've seen before, but so what, aren't most stories ones we've seen before, this show is done well, can't really say anything bad about it at all, it's worth the watch, people giving it bad reviews are expecting too much I guess, like what?, it's a fine drama, what's not to like?, there are lots of crappy shows, this ain't one of them!, give it a chance, you don't regret it methinks

this drama is pretty good really, sure, it's a story we've seen before, but so what, aren't most stories ones we've seen before, this show is done well, can't really say anything bad about it at all, it's worth the watch, people giving it bad reviews are expecting too much I guess, like what?, it's a fine drama, what's not to like?, there are lots of crappy shows, this ain't one of them!, give it a chance, you don't regret it methinks.

Desperate

[t-spicer-21159 · 4/10 · 1 March 2023]

Channel 5 dramas are not known for their quality at the best of times, and this is certainly not one of their best.

It's entertaining enough to watch all episodes in one evening if you have nothing better to do, and can get past the first episode which doesn't really come alive until the last 5 minutes. Be prepared to suspend belief in just about everyone and everything ... Cops who couldn't find a criminal right under their noses unless they were waving a placard with "I'm a robber" written on it and a Drug Lord who is a true pantomime villain with a gun

From the cops to the robbers, the acting and script is pretty poor and the ending ridiculous.