The Line of Beauty
Isn't it ironic that Nick Guest (Dan Stevens), the protagonist in the BBC's miniseries,A Line of Beauty, is a Henry James scholar at university before being inducted into the fast-paced, sexy world of upper class British society? Director Saul Dibb has transformed this politically scandalous story, based on the Alan Hollinghurst novel, into a juicy, three-part series set in 1986/87 that pits decadence against the heartbreak and crash that often follows it.A Line of Beautyfollows Guest, an aspiring politician, who happily accepts an invitation to live and work for a friend's family headed by famous Conservative, Gerald Fedden (Tim McInnerny), under the condition that Guest watch their mentally unstable daughter, Cat (Hayley Atwell). Upon discovering that Nick's gay, Cat and Nick become best friends. Plots complicate to keep Nick's sexuality under wraps, as the viewer glimpses fancy debauched parties, major drug use (the show is named after a line of cocaine), and explicit sexual escapades. Soundtracked by great '80s bands like Duran Duran and New Order, the show's hip coolness counterbalances Guest's ultimate tragic fall, following the onset of AIDS. A story that at once assesses the British political corruption, sexual discrimination, and '80s fashion,A Line of Beautyoffers soap opera-like entertainment along with conceptual substance.--Trinie Dalton