Just saw it.
Hurm.
It's okay. But... I think it's going to need time to get into a groove.
The problem is... Eliza Dushku. She's hot and talented, no question. But she's not particularly versatile.
DOLLHOUSE is many tv actor's dream: a regular, secure, prominent role on a tv show that allows them to play a different part each week to show off their acting chops. You need two strengths that are very rare together: invisibility and presence.
The actor needs to be a chameleon, able to completely disappear and yet, have enough presence to always be credible. A good example? Gary Oldman. That man is terrific.
Eliza Dushku is a good actor, but she's not got those qualities. There is one sequence; the phone negotiation; where Dushku goes from generic "tough" to the negotiator. That one sequence. Other than that, she's playing the part like she plays every part. The only other sequence where she was impressive was as the mindwiped Echo (I love how they're named after the phonetic alphabet - obviously "Alpha" is the one who got away or somethin'). She was genuinely creepy. Other than that... she was rather bland.
What didn't help, was that the script really kept going on about how she was a DOLL (I know that's the point). The continuous allusions to her as a prostitute and playing 'make-believe' really messed up the idea that she's supposed to be credible. When the father is demanding her to justify why she's there, I felt that it was a mistake to have him do that, because I kept remembering that she is playing make-believe, she's not really who she is, and that she's false and... rubbish. I didn't get the credibility that she's supposed to be GOOD at what she's doing. Even after the exchange, it never felt like she was credible. Partly because Dushku doesn't have that kind of range of presence, and partly because the script wouldn't shut up about it. See, after the phone exchange, I did find her credible. The writing and acting had SOLD her as the negotiator. Then the script undid that whole scene. She went from impressive to fake, which was silly.
Some alumni from Whedon's shows who might've been better? Alyson Hannigan, Gina Torres... and Amy Acker. It makes me cross my fingers that this show quickly becomes an ensemble cast, not just Echo and, maybe, Sierra or Tango or something. I hope the ensemble is dolls, not one doll and a bunch of administrators...
Anyhow, Helo (it was Helo wasn't it?) had that great scene in the toilet. And I love the ex-cop.
As the series continues, no doubt both the writers and the actors will work out what they can and can't do well, and it'll hit a particularly nice groove (as I say, Dushku is not bad by any means - the phone exchange was good, I'm sure she'll just get better and better as the show continues).
So... kinda optimistic. Whedon's at his best when playing with genre tropes. This show is about playing the typical spy/cop show and so, no doubt, it'll have some gold in it. If only because I'm sure we'll be seeing many actors from the Whedon shows cropping up.
