Amadeus

Amadeus works as a series, not just because it looks fantastic, but that the main characters are treated as the nuanced people they were, and there seems to be less filler than one might expect.

It does what every worthwhile adaptation does (and what so many other recent re-adaptations have failed to do), which is make the story feel complete unto itself.

This is a funny, sumptuous, intelligent take on the play — far from merely a cover version.

Sharpe is delectable in the role, precocious yet understated, and with an ambition both formidable and naïve, masking the pressure he’s under from his father, who wants him to move back to Salzburg so he can manage him. Bettany, meanwhile, is brilliantly restrained, seething with jealousy and repression.

It is a series that manages to be both vivacious and vicious and is a Christmas treat come early.

Showrunner Joe Barton’s production isn’t in the same leagues, but it’s good enough thanks to the dedication of its two leads — Paul (“Wandavision”) Bettany as the conniving and cruelly envious Salieri and Will (“The White Lotus” season 2) Sharpe as the bad boy 18th century groundbreaking composer with daddy issues.

It’s an intriguing balance of themes that, at five hours, also starts to feel spread a bit thin at times. .... Still, a trio of strong performances and the chance to watch some elaborately staged versions of Mozart’s most famous operas go a long way towards keeping things engaging—especially when the finale sticks the landing so powerfully.

The show is beautifully rendered. Unfortunately, overextending the tale into a five-hour-long television show dilutes the tension, genius and the music that made the film and Shaffer‘s play such masterpieces.

There are good results here, and some less than good. One might say it is less than the sum of its parts; if in the end I was not moved in the way I was surely meant to be — the five-part series is a little repetitious, a little exhausting — there was much to like along the way. It did prove interesting.

This Mozart is more of a straightforward working artist, alcoholic and skirt chaser. This makes for a Mozart who is more rueful and sympathetic but not much more interesting, and Sharpe gives a somewhat dutiful performance. .... The revisions have one happy result: Barton’s Salieri is a more nuanced and interesting character, with motivations more grounded in everyday life. Bettany takes full advantage in his meticulously controlled performance; we can feel the rot eating him from within. .... The question his [Joe Barton's] “Amadeus” raises is, why “Amadeus”?

There's plenty to enjoy for viewers willing to embrace its theatricality and historical aversion, but those expecting a more nuanced or historically grounded exploration of Mozart will be left wanting more.

There are plenty of bits of hits, but missing is the play’s probing examination of quite why Mozart is so new and astonishing.

The music, the sets, the costumes—all gorgeous—but pallid imitation fails as sincere flattery in this overstuffed, five-part streaming version of a Tony winning play and Oscar-winning movie.