Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

TheLittleSongbird 'House of Cards' is superlative. 'To Play the King' is great. The third series of the trilogy 'The Final Cut' (1995) may be the weakest of the three but is still very good.Everything that made 'House of Cards' and 'To Play the King' is here in 'The Final Cut' and work brilliantly. Unlike the previous two series however, a few parts veer on the improbable and the ending felt unsatisfying in its predictability and not having the punch or clarity of the ending of 'House of Cards' (the ending of 'To Play the King' was the weak link of that series but was more convincing than here). The previous two series are paced a little tighter too. Having said all this, the deviations from the source material again don't detract and the spirit and attention to character and mood detail are present.On the other hand, 'The Final Cut' visually looks wonderful, full of elegance and atmosphere in the design and class and style in the way it's filmed. It's also beautifully scored by Jim Parker with a very memorable main theme, and the direction lets the atmosphere and drama breathe but still never undermines the momentum.Andrew Davies once again also deserves a lot of the credit. The script has dry cynicism, sharp wit, dark bite and class, with some deservedly iconic lines that have since become part of popular culture. The nation's mood is brilliantly captured and the political elements are handled so truthfully and don't feel shoe-horned (it's actually essential here) or heavy-handed. The storytelling is mostly very absorbing, the depth and richness of the previous two series in the trilogy not lost.Ian Richardson is once again absolutely incredible in his best and most justifiably best known role, dominating the whole proceedings with ease. Diane Fletcher has a bigger role in 'The Final Cut' and again shows completely believability in a role that one doesn't see from her usually.Paul Freeman is especially good in support, which is mostly pretty solid apart from Nikolas Grace's sleaziness being more over-the-top than creepy.Overall, while the weakest of the three 'The Final Cut' still has a huge amount to enjoy, primarily Richardson. 8/10 Bethany Cox

bob the moo The third in the three mini-series sees FU holding firm to achieve his goal of serving in office longer than 'she' did. A historic peace deal brokered between Turkey and Cyprus is to be his public triumph (and private windfall), although past events (recent and long since past) hold a constant threat of being revealed, while he finds himself surrounded by possible leadership challenges.This final run of episodes manages to keep the core strength of the previous episodes, and for many (myself included) this will be enough to make it work and be worth watching; however this is not to be blind to some of the issues with it. The first for me was that the entire history of FU in Cyprus seems dropped in completely inorganically. Okay I understand we join after he has always worked through the deal so perhaps these triggered the memory – but for the viewer we come to this subplot through the memories first. These are quickly followed up by the family seeking the truth (about the very thing FU is now having nightmares about) and as a result it seems like the series is rushing to introduce a plot and get it moving. Once the series gets into its stride, this works better as a backdrop while leadership challenges and political maneuvering is in the fore – which is the aspect I found more engaging.The character of FU and the to-camera addresses remain effective and engaging, but in this case too many of the supporting characters and plots are not so well done. The family seeking justice is one example, but cabinet members are not as strong and too long is spent on affairs (with a lot of nudity and humping added for what I can only presume is the satirical effect of putting the image of real politicians at it into the minds of the public). These scattered examples of things not working so well do rather limit the series as a whole, but mostly it works. The start does lack sharpness, but I was a bit surprised by some of the lack of edge at the end too – it works but some aspects of it could have been better.Despite the misgivings, and despite it not being at the level of the previous series, it is still an enjoyable end to the story.

welshNick The Final Cut is the last of the House of Cards trilogy and certainly not the best. The problem it had was how excellent its two predecessors were and it is always difficult to put 'three in a row' together. You only have to look at how awful The Godfather III was to see that. So where did it go wrong ?? The first part showed hoe FU became prime minister (excellent) and the second part showed how he crushed all opposition as PM including the Monarch (Almost as good). It was always going to be difficult to follow this up and if there was a dark secret in FU's past, surely one of his opponents would have found it when he ran for PM in the first part, particularly Pat Woolton who was foreign secretary. Well acted, quite a predictable ending, how evil is that wife of his ??? On a more comical note the fact that FU's wife is having an affair with the head of security is verging on the absurd. In its own right, not bad, but it had to much to live up to - well worth watching though but make sure you see them in the right order.

Clivecat I can't recommend this series highly enough! All the actors are first rate, the script literate and hilarious! BBC has done a first rate job and this is one of the best things I have seen in years! Ian Richardson is perfect in this role! He's probably sick of hearing about it by now, but he was really wonderful, as was everybody else. A first rate production in all ways!