- Network: NBC
- Series Premiere Date: Oct 17, 2008
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Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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Some of the pirates tonight, perhaps inevitably, take on a little of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. But the acting is generally solid and the action is both stirring and, happily, easy to follow.
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Once you figure out that the show is pure fluffy action-adventure and uses the book only as a flimsy guidepost, it's actually pretty entertaining.
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Surprise! Crusoe's good, and by "good" I mean competently produced and acted.
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That NBC has bought into this concept reflects network TV's lowered expectations, but the series' two-hour premiere is a respectable effort--handsomely shot and offering old-fashioned end-of-the-week escapism, albeit with a character unable to escape his own island purgatory.
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Demanding absolute sense or ironclad consistency from a show like this is like wanting a butterfly to fly a straighter line, not only pointless but somehow unnatural.
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The latest re-imagining of Daniel Defoe’s classic tale of a man shipwrecked on an island far from home has already earned its keep.
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The two-hour pilot episode was engaging and fun in a way that NBC's other throwback dramas ("Knight Rider," "My Own Worst Enemy") have failed to be.
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The irony of a series like Crusoe is that its provenance is a classic, much-analyzed novel, but the creators and NBC really just hope you’ll watch it because it’s Lost without the pretentious reach. And that’s fine, too.
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The chemistry between Winchester and Chirisa is great and very believeable, which goes to the acting ability of both men. It's not easy to make relationships seem real in this out-there fantasy.
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For all its shortcomings and flat flourishes, Crusoe has one very significant thing going for it, a virtue that can be summarized in four reassuring words: At Least It's Different.
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Like Huck and Jim, or Ishmael and Queequeg, Crusoe and Friday embody the triumph of homoerotic male bonding over the steeps of race, culture, and ethnicity.
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Equal parts sly and stupid, rousing and ridiculous.
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Defoe's ambitious bachelor is transformed into an ardent husband and father, whose memories of his previous life are so tinged with romance they include falling rose petals. I kid you not.
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For the first hour, the sheer silly energy of the contraptions and the appeal of the two stars carry Crusoe along. But you may find yourself tiring of plot holes you can steer a galleon through and the second-rate nature of much of the cast, and wondering how you make a series out of two people trapped on a deserted island.
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Instead of breaking new ground, Crusoe falls back on hokey Saturday matinee swashbuckling, a treasure map, explosions, and jungle sets with fake torches that invite you to look for "Survivor" host Jeff Probst around the next boulder.
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The tone varies wildly from action-adventure to serious costume drama.
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Smart writing, fine cast, cool setting and story, but so far Crusoe can't help feeling a little dorky and dated.
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In other words, deconstructionists of the world, there is nothing here for you. Nor, it must be said, for anyone who is not entertained by family-friendly fare. Perhaps future episodes will get down and dirty. So far, however, the series is straight as an arrow.
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Crusoe, based loosely on the classic adventure tale by Daniel Defoe, is an international co-production that champions swashbuckling and scenery without grasping the significance of credibility and character development.
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The business deals might have been artful, but the show certainly isn't.
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It sedates, and its fabricated sentimentality does not save it.
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His being stuck there no matter who shows up, in addition to his out-of-joint flashbacks, makes Crusoe seem something like a proto-Survivor contestant or, weirder, a proto-cast member on Lost. None of this bodes especially well for the series, in terms of repetition and limitation.
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As remakes go, Crusoe is at least a couple of cuts above NBC's brainless "Knight Rider," but let's face it, the bar couldn't be set any lower.
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Hokey and poorly paced with unfathomably lame flashbacks, it's like a relentlessly mediocre movie of the week that still has 11 more hours to go.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 17 out of 22
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Mixed: 1 out of 22
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Negative: 4 out of 22
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Aug 16, 2012
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DaveW.Nov 25, 2008
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EliasC.Nov 16, 2008