THE PERFECT COUPLE
Limited Series
Based on the book by Elin Hilderbrand
Created by Jenna Lamia
Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorite authors—I’ve been reading one of her books every June for the last ten years at least. THE ISLAND was my gateway drug, but since then I’ve read and enjoyed so many of them. THE PERFECT COUPLE is not a book I read, which meant I was excited and able to come to this adaptation with no preconceived notions—other than those an avid Hildebrand reader would have. Her books are wonderful for their escapism—they’re gossipy and rich in detail about the perfect lobster boils or the over-the-top behavior of Nantucket’s one percent. They’re all really fun as her ability with storytelling always feels like your best gossipy friend wanted to grab coffee and spill all the goings on in town. I’ve always thought she was sort of America’s answer to Maeve Binchy, which should be considered the highest of compliments.
So I was nervous, at first, that the Netflix adaptation wouldn’t get it. That it would somehow miss the tongue in cheek nature of it all and take itself too seriously as a murder mystery. The story follows Amelia and the ultra rich Winbury family on Nantucket as Amelia is set to tie the knot with Benji Winbury. The plans for the event are thrown into chaos when a dead body is discovered on the morning of the wedding and every one is a suspect.
Having seen the first three episodes (of six), I can report that THE PERFECT COUPLE can be a bit of a mixed bag but, for the most part, does in fact have the kind of awareness of itself and its expectation of escapism that Elin’s books always carry. Yes, there are times when we’re with the police investigation and the whole thing feels like it loses steam and all of a sudden it’s a bejumble of every character’s last names and becomes hard to follow. There are times it swings the opposite direction and actually veers so far from the self-serious that it steps into camp, which is a much safer (and way more fun) place to be then taking itself too seriously. But for the most part, the show finds the fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’m not sure the mystery itself holds any water—we’ll have to see when the answers are revealed if I’m wrong about this. But the test here is more about is it fun—and yes, it is. Nicole Kidman’s visible disgust with Liev Schrieber’s character is a hoot, as is Dakota Fanning’s smirky smug Abby. Her husband Tom is so over the top in his ability to lash out for his own feelings of failure, inadequacy, and ego-bruising. And I’m not even sure what the character of Isabel’s doing, but dang if she isn’t fun to be around. The adaptation understood the assignment, and I hope it paves the way for other novels to screen. There’s a reason Hilderbrand is the queen of the beach read—people want that kind of escapism and TV would be smart to realize it, embrace it, understand it, and serve it on a silver platter.
4 stars