The Act is one of the best dramatized crime stories I have seen in a long time for many reasons. First of all, the acting is brilliant. You can literally feel Gypsy's frustration in many of the scenes as she fails to fit in with other girls due to their perception of her illness, as she is made to lie to a CPS worker and the many tense, unsettling moments between her and her mother. Dee Dee's backstory is given, which is equally disturbing, and neighbours and friends of the family are given a lot of screen time, so it's easy to see this as more than just a TV show. The soundtrack choices are well-placed, and the recreations of the Blanchard House, the prison and the home of Nick Godejohn are all spot-on. Stunning visual effects and lighting aid in the conveying of emotion and isolation - many reviewers have complained about the poor lighting during the scenes in the Blanchard home, when in reality, it really was that bad; Dee Dee had taped tinted film up over the windows to block them. There are some brilliant scenes to establish why Gypsy didn't just walk away and leave, such as the scene of Dee Dee lying that Gypsy is 14 years old, and another in which they both watch the stars together while homeless in a park. Gypsy's ambivalence, as well as the abuse she suffers, are truly a jarring viewing experience.
While this series is good, I wouldn't recommend it to those interested in an accurate account of the true story in which it was based upon. This is especially true due to the character of Nick Godejohn, who is portrayed as a poor, simple-minded boy under Gypsy's thumb, some innocent person who got caught up in the throes of love. In reality, there was something dark about Nick from the start. He was a pervert who had been arrested after fondling himself to pornography in a McDonald's restaurant for 9 whole hours (I kid you not), and his parents should have been keeping a better handle on his internet usage and associations, as he was unstable. He had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning autism) but there is still dispute on whether or not his mental capacity was actually hindered by this or not, or if he was just socially awkward. Gypsy herself is portrayed as a malicious, nasty psychopath. In reality she was noted to exhibit very mild sociopathic tendencies mimicked from her own mother, and she has admitted to manipulating Nick, but the series here takes quite a few fictional liberties in the portrayal of their "relationship", and somewhat downplays the extent of the medical abuse that Gypsy suffered and the amount of drugs that she was on.
The Act is also quite a long series, and it leaves a lot to be desired in the final episode. I would have liked to see more of Gypsy's rekindled relationship with her estranged father, more of his own input and memory on Dee Dee and Gypsy, more about Dee Dee and Gypsy's experience with Hurricane Katrina and how this aided in Dee Dee's ability to "lose" Gypsy's records and keep up the lie, and the input from Dee Dee's extended family that she had poisoned her stepmother and neglected her biological mother, as well as the flushing of Dee Dee's ashes down the toilet, as it might have given a better reflection of why Dee Dee's death received more joy than grief. There are scenes which were dragged out in a bizarre way, such as the comic convention scene, which could have been cut back quite a bit, and scenes where Nick's father is bitter towards Gypsy before he even knows that she and Nick have done anything wrong (this is never explained and felt very irrelevant). The series felt much stronger in its initial episodes, whereas after the actual murder, it began to lag and get a bit silly at some points, such as when Nick is portrayed as frequently picking up rocks and keeping a list of things to do such as "remember to feed Gypsy", and Gypsy releasing her two pet guinea pigs outdoors to "set them free" in a very odd display of empathy and childish whimsy that really contradicts the storyline that Gypsy was a cold-blooded manipulator. The final episode also replays the stabbing scene in a very long, drawn-out way which seemed unnecessary considering that it had already been portrayed at one point earlier on, and that repeated flashbacks and mentions of it, as well as imagery of Dee Dee's corpse, had all been shown.
As a drama, The Act is compelling, and viewers who remember films such as the 1970's Stephen King's Carrie and Mommie Dearest (1981) will find that this story explores a disturbing mother-daughter relationship with striking depth and understanding. As a biopic and a series, it could have used some work on detail, accuracy and better use of its allotted time. I did especially love Mel as a character most of all, though. Her caustic demeanour falls away in front of Gypsy in the final episode as the two share a heartfelt, sad moment when Mel realizes how long Gypsy had been lying to her, and when the two realize that if somebody had done something sooner, maybe they could have been connected like some semblance of a family within their close-knit yet tenuous and distant suburban circle. While fictional, Mel and many of the other side characters serve as some of The Act's best character development.
While this series is good, I wouldn't recommend it to those interested in an accurate account of the true story in which it was based upon. This is especially true due to the character of Nick Godejohn, who is portrayed as a poor, simple-minded boy under Gypsy's thumb, some innocent person who got caught up in the throes of love. In reality, there was something dark about Nick from the start. He was a pervert who had been arrested after fondling himself to pornography in a McDonald's restaurant for 9 whole hours (I kid you not), and his parents should have been keeping a better handle on his internet usage and associations, as he was unstable. He had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning autism) but there is still dispute on whether or not his mental capacity was actually hindered by this or not, or if he was just socially awkward. Gypsy herself is portrayed as a malicious, nasty psychopath. In reality she was noted to exhibit very mild sociopathic tendencies mimicked from her own mother, and she has admitted to manipulating Nick, but the series here takes quite a few fictional liberties in the portrayal of their "relationship", and somewhat downplays the extent of the medical abuse that Gypsy suffered and the amount of drugs that she was on.
The Act is also quite a long series, and it leaves a lot to be desired in the final episode. I would have liked to see more of Gypsy's rekindled relationship with her estranged father, more of his own input and memory on Dee Dee and Gypsy, more about Dee Dee and Gypsy's experience with Hurricane Katrina and how this aided in Dee Dee's ability to "lose" Gypsy's records and keep up the lie, and the input from Dee Dee's extended family that she had poisoned her stepmother and neglected her biological mother, as well as the flushing of Dee Dee's ashes down the toilet, as it might have given a better reflection of why Dee Dee's death received more joy than grief. There are scenes which were dragged out in a bizarre way, such as the comic convention scene, which could have been cut back quite a bit, and scenes where Nick's father is bitter towards Gypsy before he even knows that she and Nick have done anything wrong (this is never explained and felt very irrelevant). The series felt much stronger in its initial episodes, whereas after the actual murder, it began to lag and get a bit silly at some points, such as when Nick is portrayed as frequently picking up rocks and keeping a list of things to do such as "remember to feed Gypsy", and Gypsy releasing her two pet guinea pigs outdoors to "set them free" in a very odd display of empathy and childish whimsy that really contradicts the storyline that Gypsy was a cold-blooded manipulator. The final episode also replays the stabbing scene in a very long, drawn-out way which seemed unnecessary considering that it had already been portrayed at one point earlier on, and that repeated flashbacks and mentions of it, as well as imagery of Dee Dee's corpse, had all been shown.
As a drama, The Act is compelling, and viewers who remember films such as the 1970's Stephen King's Carrie and Mommie Dearest (1981) will find that this story explores a disturbing mother-daughter relationship with striking depth and understanding. As a biopic and a series, it could have used some work on detail, accuracy and better use of its allotted time. I did especially love Mel as a character most of all, though. Her caustic demeanour falls away in front of Gypsy in the final episode as the two share a heartfelt, sad moment when Mel realizes how long Gypsy had been lying to her, and when the two realize that if somebody had done something sooner, maybe they could have been connected like some semblance of a family within their close-knit yet tenuous and distant suburban circle. While fictional, Mel and many of the other side characters serve as some of The Act's best character development.