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TIN STAR Tim Roth and Christina Hendricks star in a revenge thriller set in the Rocky Mountains
Appearances can be deceptive. Tin Star opens with bloody violence then cuts to ‘one year earlier’. Little Big Bear in the Rocky Mountains seems like the perfect town. The Worth family have relocated from London to this small rural community. Jack (Tim Roth) is the new chief of police, struggling to i nd enough crime to keep him occupied, squabbling with his moody teenage daughter Anna (Abigail Lawrie) and gooi ng around with his infuriatingly cute son. It seems like an idyllic life until big business rolls into town. Tin Star is about lies and duplicity. Elizabeth
Bradshaw (Christina Hendricks) seems sweet as pie but is the canny and conniving PR for North Stream Oil. False promises bring a multinational company to Little Big Bear then lures in migrant workers. Bradshaw hides the truth behind spin while Jack, a recovering alcoholic, i ghts to control the darkness within. As big business takes over, the entire township is changed
forever. The community splits – half desperate for money, half wanting a return to peace and tranquillity. The i nal reveal of what really happened in
those opening i ve minutes is even more brutal than most would guess; an act so vicious it unleashes a demon with a thirst for revenge.
Written and created by Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later, Brighton Rock), Tin Star’s portrayal of smalltown life doesn’t always feel convincing (a couple of rubbish CGI moments don’t help). The message of big business standing for the evils of the world (corruption, exploitation, pollution) is well meaning but a little simplistic. However, Roth and Hendricks are always watchable and, after The Casual Vacancy and Murdered For Being Different, Lawrie has proved she is a superb young actor. (Henry Northmore) ■ Tin Star starts on Sky Atlantic, Thu 7 Sep, with all 10 episodes available on Sky Boxsets and NOW TV ●●●●●
92 THE LIST 1 Sep–31 Oct 2017