Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Beulah Bram
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
ct780
I found this show more or less by coincidence a few years ago. I had heard of Tess Gerritsen but never read any of her "Rizzoli & Isles" books and initially wasn't even aware that this was a show based on existing successful novels. In other words: I came in without any bias or expectation.The first episode I caught was one from either Season 2 or Season 3. What I found was a somewhat light-hearted procedural with two female leads (one a cop, the other the medical examiner), a balanced mix of humor and drama, and a good supporting cast. I watched another episode, decided that it was good enough, and went back to the pilot to watch it all in order. The first season is, without doubt, the best of the whole show. It's sightly edgier than the rest, it has a strong and creepy villain in Charles Hoyt and another interesting antagonist in Paddy Doyle (the father of Isles and a criminal on the opposite side of the law), and it always keeps the supporting cast enough in the background to allow the two leads to grow and carry the story.The second & third seasons underwent a noticeable change in tone. Everything got a bit lighter, there's this increasingly annoying clown music in humorous scenes, and the supporting cast begins to take away some of the main characters' screen time. But as a whole, the show still works. Even one of my favorite episodes is in Season 3 (3x02). And some of the new guest characters (in particular, Isles' biological mother and Rizzoli's ego-driven soldier-lover) added some much needed conflict and allowed us to see more of the vulnerable side of the two leads.Then came Season 4, and things became complicated. Again, it had some very good episodes (especially 4x04, but also 4x07 and 4x09), but towards the end of the season, everything unraveled. This was also around the time when Lee Thompson Young (who played Rizzoli's partner) committed suicide, which certainly must have been a factor in what was happening both on screen and behind the scenes and eventually resulted in the firing of showrunner Janet Tamaro. I won't speculate, but the last two or three episodes of Season 4 already hinted at the drastic changes to come. Out of the blue, Rizzoli's younger brother forces himself upon Isles without any consequences at all, whereas Rizzoli herself turns into a shadow of her former self and accepts the blackmail-proposal from her soldier lover (basically: "marry me, or I'll go back to Afghanistan!"), followed by an unexpected pregnancy. This wasn't good. This was turning into something very sexist that I wouldn't enjoy.And with the new showrunner Jan Nash, everything got so much worse in Season 5 and Season 6. Granted, Nash's first few episodes gave me hope. They sent off the emotionally abusive soldier lover (though in a very amateurish cop-out), got rid of the pregnancy (again, in a very amateurish way that left much to be desired), they even temporarily toned down the clown music. But then Nash and her unskilled writers destroyed everything that was good about the show. They ruined the female leads and turned them into incompetent stupid caricatures. They added completely pointless story lines for the supporting characters and made them a central part of the show (Rizzoli's mother and brother have become a real pain in the ass). They brought back the clown music. They erased Isles' backstory and added tons of continuity errors to the show. They got rid of all the guest characters that had added depth (Paddy Doyle, Isles' biological mother, Rizzoli's father, Rizzoli's boss, etc.). They killed off Isles' only remaining friend/colleague (Susie Chang) outside of the Rizzoli family and replaced her with a new man who -- AGAIN -- forced himself upon Isles without any consequences at all. They turned Isles into a shallow two-dimensional joke of a woman who chooses guns like fashion accessories. They took away all of Rizzoli's professionalism and let her make basic mistakes that not even the most inexperienced rookie cop would make. And the list goes on and on and on.The ratings have continually fallen, and I'm glad that this disaster has finally been cancelled. This is not a show about two strong, independent and mature women anymore. This is a step back, and it's sad that all of this happened under the supervision of a female showrunner (Jan Nash even admitted that she didn't bother watching the first seasons when she took over control).Watch the first four seasons. They're decent, light-hearted entertainment. But definitely ignore the rest.
Ginoyes
I love this show - everyone in my family waits for it! We love mystery shows and movies and this is a wonderful combination of mystery plus fun. The characters are superbly written and their lives are blended very realistically. I don't think this 'pregnancy' plot is going to be a good thing though. If she is pregnant in real life then I can understand why they may have put this into the show but most TV shows have failed big time when a baby has been 'written into' the series. Same thing with marriages, the show dies off. Other television shows have done their best to 'hide' the star's real life pregnancy with big clothes and shooting from the top 'up' because the pregnancy did not fit their story line. So I am wondering what the reason for this is to be honest. Otherwise, the show is really enjoyable. The plots are great and very interesting. It was so sad to see the farewell to Lee Thompson Young but they did a very nice job. It was heartfelt and sentimental. Another tragedy in the lives of young actors/actresses in Hollywood.
Lara Watson
I love this series. I sometimes love it more than the book series. Great casting and characters. Angie Harmon is great as Jane Rizzoli. Sasha Alexander is fabulous as Dr. Maura Isles. I wish some of the books in the series could be made into episodes of the TV series. I really hope that this show stays on for awhile and doesn't get cancelled like so many other great shows. Korsak and Frost are hilarious and really help round out the estrogen, that is Isles and Rizzoli. I love this sow so much and wish that there were more shows like it. So sick of dumb reality and sitcoms. I hope the writers keep the show going in the direction that it is going in, and don't screw it up.
decookie
Rizzoli & Isles is a great old time detective family show ...only with two beautiful intelligent females. Brilliant detective work performed by a female detective with a dry "cop" sense of humor and a hilarious female medical examiner who scares off men by diagnosing their illnesses while out on a date built into a great detective murder mystery program!! Someone has finally come out with a nice, clean wholesome show that can be enjoyed by the whole family.No sloppy sex scenes, no filthy mouths with bleeped out words...Just a very enjoyable murder mystery program!!! Thank you!
