Coltrane plays the smoking, drinking, womanising, foul--mouthed, but highly intuitive police psychologist in this hard--hitting drama from the 1990s
Cracker is a high-volume emotional ride, with murder, brutal mental and physical police interrogations, substance abuse, adultery, and very frank descriptions of human nature, at odds with social taboos. The (anti)hero, Fitz, played by Robbie Coltrane, has a dual nature. On the one hand, he is a professor of criminal psychology, and therefore very highly educated. On the other hand, he revels in his primitive Celtic heritage: smoking, drinking, womanising to excess, and expressing contempt for any civilised conventions which limit his freedom of action or expression.
He lives, on and off, with his handsome wife, Barbara Flynn, and his 3 children, the eldest of whom is a grown-up layabout. At work, he is admired by the younger Geraldine Sommerville, a rising homicide detective. Heading the homicide department in Manchester is the young Christopher Ecclestone, aided by some rather old-fashioned policemen, not above some 1970s-style strong-arm tactics on suspects.
Ecclestone continually calls Fitz in to help him solve difficult murders. Fitz is excellent at picking up small clues from a murder scene and combining these with his intuition about the motivations and state of mind of a typical violent offender. Although this often helps identify a likely suspect, the lack of unambiguous physical evidence usually means that the suspect has to be broken by a long, drawn-out interrogation. Such scenes must be great fun for the actors, allowing free rein to their emotions. However, they can be a bit rough on the viewer, made sensitive by decades of living in gentler times.
Overall, Fitz is an intriguing character, the acting performances are excellent, the murder plots are interesting and sophisticated, and Fitz's private life provides amusing subplots. However, this is definitely 18-rated material, and one might not want to watch the entire box set in a couple of weeks.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned