The Night Manager

Last Tuesday, AMC started running a six-part mini-series of The Night Manager, which is a co-production with the BBC.  It's based on the novel by John Le Carré and stars Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.

I won't say too much, other than the first episode was superbly done, and it was a big success when it aired in England.  Hiddleston was absolutely great.  His role is far bigger in the premiere than Laurie's, which is why I single him out.  Oh, and it has a stunningly-high 94% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The mini-series airs on Tuesday nights at 10 PM (Los Angeles time), so if you want to catch up on the premiere before Episode Two tomorrow, it's available On Demand.  Or you can watch the first episode directly on AMC's website here, with no log-in required.  (They also have the second episode available.)

The story is about a hotel manager (Hiddleston) who is recruited by British Secret Service to infiltrate an organization run by Laurie as a major philanthropist, who is called "the most evil man in the world" since his charities are really a front for  massive arms and chemical weapons-running   

A couple of friends who read the book said the first episode was a terrific adaptation of the novel, despite several changes.  (Most notably, the initial locale where the night manager works was moved from Cairo for the Arab Spring, and a major arms deal was changed from Colombian to the Middle East, and makes a reference to the Syrian refugee crisis.  Also, the British agent is a woman in the mini-series.)  Also, despite the changes, author Le Carré -- who has been critical about most adaptations of his books -- has been full of praise for The Night Manager and said it's one of the best adaptations he's seen.

Each episode runs an hour and 15 minutes, which is about an hour without the commercials.  Here's the trailer.  It's good, but doesn't give a sense of the intelligence, subtlety and craft of the opening episode.