When a British star with lots of Shakespeare on his résumé pops up as a depressed TV detective, complete with glassy eyes, gray skin and stale booze breath, we are fully expected to genuflect.
And when it comes to Kenneth Branagh, and his new semiregular gig as Inspector Kurt Wallander on PBS, we are pleased to abide.
"Wallander" is a three-episode run of "Masterpiece Mystery!" beginning tonight, with more episodes planned for next year. Based on the crime novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell, the bleak whodunit is for Branagh what "Prime Suspect" was for Helen Mirren — a chance to exude some glamourless small-screen heroism.
With rumpled clothes, stubble on his cheeks and a belly, Branagh's Wallander ambles along the line between gentle sadness and workaholic exhaustion. Separated from his wife and living in seedy bachelor digs, he has given up his personal life to slosh wearily through the world's ills.
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I can't say "Wallander" reaches the heights of "Prime Suspect," especially since the murders and their attendant mysteries aren't especially engaging. The deaths come fast and furiously and with plenty of shock value — the first violent death, in particular, as well as the subsequent scalpings. Yes, scalpings. But the pieces don't tend to add up to much; these aren't brain teasers.
Still, the series has a hypnotic allure, as the murders and deaths drive Wallander further into himself. They're grim markers on his existential journey, especially when they involve young women, which they often do. Wallander has an unrealized relationship with his daughter, Linda (Jeany Spark), who worries about her distant dad.
The appealing aspect of Branagh's performance is that he holds on to his reserves of sorrow and fury, keeping them right below the surface.
By Episode 3, after the unexpected death of a friend, Branagh begins to show Wallander's impatience and remorse more overtly, but even then he is generally muted. He never strains to affect swagger or moral righteousness. Instead, he relies on his run-down physique and watchful eyes for impact.
The series is filmed in Sweden, and the characters are meant to be Swedish. The mixing of grim Britishness with a colorfully moody Scandinavian landscape helps to differentiate "Wallander" from so many other "Mystery!" series.
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"Wallander" — a three-episode run of "Masterpiece Mystery!" — premieres at 8 tonight on PBS.
