Customer Reviews
Gut wrenching performance by Helen Mirren - By: DVD Addict, 16 May 2008 
I recently watched all of Prime Suspect again, having bought the box set. This last episode was heart wrenching & I cried on several occasions. Helen Mirren's portrayal of her character as she goes through her various issuesin this - getting older, no children, no partner, the approaching death of her father , her alcohol addiction - was more than an Oscar winning performance. The death of a previous colleague as well adds to all of this. These issues are ones that we all face as we age & they are intermingled with this final case when it seems like she has lost her touch. I don't think I've ever seen a drunk portrayedin such a realistic yet gut wrenching way.
the final act ???? - By: Red Rose, 18 Jan 2008 
The wonderful 'Prime Suspect 6' was always going to be a very hard act to follow, & so it proved. This is, never the less, very good.
Only four stars ?? Well some of the other episodes were so good, that they deserved better ratings. In this episode Tennison starts letting herself down very badlyin terms of judgement & drink, has big problems at home, & chance meeting with an old colleague provokes another disaster. Her boss thinks it is high time she retired & she has a very nasty murder case to try & solve.
I saw Helen Mirren interviewed & asked if there were any more plans for future episodes. The reply of 'probably not' had a tone that suggested that if something exceptional came up, then maybe we might get a final chapter.
Fantastic End - By: Sophie D, 02 Sep 2007 After watching this, i wished i'd watched previous Prime Suspects. Though i thought this was fantastic, exciting & had me watching till the end!
Could watch it again!
STD
A Rousing, Monumental Accomplishment - By: TomBeTom, 30 Jul 2007 The final installment into the hugely successful & immensely popular "Prime Suspect" series does its very best to ensure that crumbling, soon-to-be-retired D.S. Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) goes out with a bang. Positively captivating & reservedly thrilling from the very beginning right up until the second set of closing credits, "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" is a perfect way to end the series. Though I personally haven't followed the story from the first double-bill, I couldn't think of a better way for the series to come to a close. Superlatively acted & magnificently written, this is a phenomenal murder mystery thriller that grips the viewer by the throat from the offset, not even relinquishing them following the atmospheric & intense climax. If it stops short of sheer & total brilliance, "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" is closer than any other film of 2006 that stopped short of such.
Losing the battle against alcoholism & nearing her retirement, Jane Tennison is given one last case to solve when a fourteen-year-old student, Sallie Sturdy (Maxine Barton), mysteriously disappears. Soon enough, her body is found & Tennison has a murder case on her hands. Her best chance of solving Sallie's murder seems to come from fellow teenager Penny Phillips (Laura Greenwood), & as such Tennison begins to form a bond with a girl that would have been the same age as Tennison's own daughter, were it not aborted. Penny is a possible witness & friend of Sallie whose father & school headmaster Sean (Stephen Tomkinson) may or may not have been involved sexually with the murdered under-age girl. Also of possible help to Tennison is defiant Curtis Flynn (Heshima Thompson), an original suspect who Tennison immediately takes a disliking to. With her father approaching death, however, Jane's alcohol addiction comes to fruition, threatening to hinder herin the search for Sallie's murderer & increasing the likelihood of an even earlier dismissal, adding to the strain put onto the case by Tennison's own inappropriate close relationship with the earlier mentioned Penny. So, can Tennison identify & capture her final Prime Suspect? Or is there to be little celebration at her impending retirement gig?
Because "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" stands as the climactic outing for her Jane Tennison character, Helen Mirren is getting all the plaudits. Her performance alone is extraordinary & far above the calibre of the majority of actresses working today, delivering a performance of resounding & undeniable depth & soul. That doesn't mean that Mirren is the best thing about the film. By a long shot, Laura Greenwood has her beat, playing Penny Phillips with the sort of outright brilliance rarely glimpsed on-screenin the present day. To say that Greenwood is astounding is an understatement, without doubt hers is the best performance of the year (such will warrant an edit to my 2006 Best & Worst List). Perfectly capturing the vulnerability of Penny while faithfully injecting into her character's mixture the unmistakable teenage defiance, Greenwood delivers a performance of sheer maturity & realism. That she was only fourteen at the time of filming only serves to highlight how multi-talented this versatile young actress is.
The supporting performances aren't as strong as Greenwood's or Mirren's, but they're worth mention & bring to proceedings underlaying qualityin the background, benefitting greatly the procedural style of the picture. As Penny's father & Sallie's lover, Stephen Tomkinson is great portraying Sean Phillips. When a blah television series like "Wild at Heart" only makes him look amateur, it is welcome that something like "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" should allow him to communicate just how talented an actor he is. Heshima Thompson is fittingly unlikeable but revealed to be little more than a scared novice to serious crime as suspect Curtis Flynn. Flynn has a history of crime already, but the teenager is never more vulnerable or out-of-his-depth than when Tennison's team put him under pressure. Also of particular note is a game Gary Lewis, emotionally raw & believable as murdered Sallie's father Tony Sturdy. The rest of the supporting cast are very goodin their roles, each bringing reality & depth to their diverse characters.
One thing is clear with the scripting & style of "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act". Lynda La Plante's pen hasn't been anywhere near the material. Having watched the also-successful "Trial & Retribution" series over the years, this closing "Prime Suspect" film is tonally different & wholly unlike something that La Plante is likely to concoct. Fortunately, however, such isn't a bad thing nor a criticism on this occasion. Truly, the change of writing, turning the job over to Frank Deasy, would appear to have no unfortunate effects upon the overall quality of the piece. In scripting, Deasy has done an astounding job, caring to make as many of his characters as is possible more than just stock, unrelatable stick-figures, something the aforementioned "Trial & Retribution" hasn't always managed.
Director Philip Martin & cinematographer Julian Court prove to be a superb partnership. Combined, the two bring an unmistakable sheen to the film's visual appearance but nevertheless embrace the grittiness of the underlying story whenever need be. As is par the course, rainy days seem to be the favourable choicein what is a dark & atmospheric mystery pic. Don't fear though, they use such bad weatherin a way that isn't cliched or trite, & appreciate that people can halfway enjoy themselves regardless of whether the terrain is a bit damp. The collective effort is good all-round for that matter, with few criticisms springing to this reviewers mindin what is a studious & enjoyable to watch television drama that serves to highlight the ever-present grim truth about British cinema: What's broadcast on our television screens is better than what we're given on the big screen.
If the climactic reveal of 'whodunnit' doesn't come as a relevatory shock, it subtracts nothing from the movie's overall quality. The concern for the viewer isn't whether "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" takes us by surprise but whether it stays true to itself & plays fair with the audience all the way through. And this it does. Who is responsible doesn't come as a shock whatsoever, butin no way does "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" conform to any pre-conceptions about what direction the film is going. In that respect, the three-hour-long opus takes the audience by surprise, offering up a taut thriller that eventually becomes difficult to watch for all the right reasons. The fun isin watching the good guys try to catch the bad guy, as is always the rule with such dramas. Still, one could raise questions about whether there are any good or bad guysin this at all. Is "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" a gathering of equally fractured, confused souls instead of just another case of good-vs-bad? I'd say the latter, & such is truer to life than any other picture of this film's ilk, of recent times anyway.
"Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" is a wonderful & intense viewing experience that I can only highly recommend. As a vessel for the immaculately talented Laura Greenwood & as a final hoo-rah for the Jane Tennison character, it wins. As an intoxicating & visually enriching pleasure, it succeeds & prospers. In fact, "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" is a challenging & gripping treat that can only qualify as the best possible way to end a long-running series that this reviewer perhaps would have been best following. To series novices, though, it is easy to follow but never over-explanatory or confusing. Nor is it maudlin for all it's reservedness. As is, "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act" is a glorious mystery offering that, by pulling the rug from under the fractured Tennison towards the climactic confrontation, ensures no more from the troubled Detective, but asserts itself as an incredible, beautiful way for the series to come to a close. Standing alone, the movie is sustainable & captivating, well worth seeking out even for anyone previously uninitiated to the series.
An ending in perfect keeping with the tone of the series - By: Graeme H, 24 Apr 2007 Prime Suspect has provided one of the best examples of quality of TV writing over the past 15 years. The final is no exception: Tennison is not only beatifully acted by Mirren, but is finely written - her demons cohabit with her virtuesin a way that feels very real. The final is full of fractured families (including Tennison's), livingin fractured communitiesin a hostile urban environment. In short, it's a grim story that captures the times well & provides a perfect external world against which to pitch Tennison's internal struggles. Fine supporting performances too, notably from Frank Finlay as Tennison's fater.
