The Pillars of the Earth

I watched about 1.2 episodes. It was strangely boring, for a book so enthralling. I wonder if that's because I just finished the book, hence nothing can be surprising, or because the miniseries is a lifeless staging of the plot, nothing more. Maybe it gets better; I mean, the first episode (an eighth of the series) rushed through at least a quarter of the book. Was it intentionally preliminary to what could be the real focus of the miniseries, Jack's ascension? Or is this whole shebang perfunctory?

Casting

Eddie Redmayne isn't a bad choice, since he's a reputable actor with a handsome/ugly factor. He's too handsome for young Jack, and too ugly for older Jack, but he's not a bad pick to split the difference. Nevertheless, he's not Jack to me, and I bet re-reading the book would revitalize my prior image of Jack rather than being superseded by Eddie Redmayne. I'm glad of that, and it doesn't reflect well on that casting.

Waleran is too old and tired. He needs to be sharp as a knife. This is a clear miss.

Ellen is not attractive or hypnotic enough. She must be startling to behold, only partly because of beauty. I'm imagining Zendaya in Dune -- her eyes are almost scarily blue, she's dark-toned and agile. Ellen needs to be older and golden-eyed instead, but the vibe itself would work.

Why would you drop Aliena's big dark curls? Just do the curls, man.

Matthew Macfayden is a reasonable option. He's maybe a little soft, but I'd have to watch the whole series to see how it pays off.

The biggest blunder is Tom Builder. It's so bad, I don't know why, but I knew it was bad the moment I saw him on the cover of the DVD. First, when I actually got to watching it, I saw he lacked personality. He should be warm and lovable. Second, I don't know what to say about his looks, other than they're wrong. It looks nothing like the Tom Builder I imagined. He's too dark, not big and bushy enough.

It's so strange that I'd never heard of this miniseries until researching the book last year. With this star power, and such a quality story, either I'm really under a rock in terms of TV or this thing just isn't that good. After one episode, I'm thinking it's one of those weird works that's good on paper and doesn't really do anything wrong other than lack a soul. It's functional, and it emotionally fails. [Obvious AI parallel here]