Mildred Pierce

I wouldn't have been interested in watching a 5-part mini-series about the depression if it didn't star two of my favourite actresses (Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood) as mother and daughter, plus Hope Davis, whom I always felt was an underrated actress. So I was excited to see this, but I was a little worried that it might be boring and melodramatic. Instead, I found myself completely hooked.

I never saw the original movie or read the book, but this version, at least, is like a classic tragedy. Mildred (Winslet) is a strong, driven woman and easy to like, but her tragic flaw is an excessive love for her daughter Veda in spite of the fact that she is a spoiled, pretentious, ungrateful brat. I don't condone child abuse, but there were a couple of parts where Mildred gives Veda a good slap, and I had to cheer because she really, really deserved it. But the heartbreaking thing about this mini-series is watching Mildred revolve most of her life around Veda - starting up an entire restaurant business just to cover up the embarrassing waitress job she had to take which her elitist daughter would've looked down on - when we know Veda isn't going to appreciate any of it. Because of this, and the fact that she is played by two different actresses at different ages, it seems as if young Veda is the fifth business of this story, while older Veda is the antagonist.

While all of the writing kept me interested, I think it sealed the deal that Kate Winslet is one of those fantastic character actresses who has no trouble being believable, and the actresses playing Veda were so annoyingly condescending and pretentious with their diction that it was never hard to hate the character, and the more I hated Veda, the sorrier I felt for Mildred being unable to see who she is. I enjoyed this way more then I thought I would, and on an unimportant side note, the Blu-ray/DVD combo packaging is really beautiful and classy. Well played, Mildred Pierce. Well played.

Best Episode: I think all five parts were equally good, but if I had to choose I guess I'd go with Part Two, in which Mildred teaches herself to be a better waitress, starts setting up her own restaurant, meets Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce), and suffers a terrible tragedy.