Joanna Lumley plays 61-year-old Davina Jackson who wonders where life went wrong in the dark, British comedy Sensitive Skin.
By ARYEH DEAN COHENjoanna lumley 88(photo credit: )
Joanna Lumley is so fabulous we'd watch her sort socks. The former co-star of the outrageous Absolutely Fabulous can do no wrong. The dark, British comedy Sensitive Skin is no exception, though this time it's Lumley's understated side that shines. She plays 61-year-old Davina Jackson, who wonders where life went wrong.
Willing to do anything not to look her age, Lumley even considers hormone treatments despite her doctor's long list of potential dangers. Regardless, "Could I have three months' worth?" she asks.
This approach defines the series. Instead of going for the jugular with outrageous costumes, lines or situations, creator Hugo Blick (Marion and Geoff, Operation Good Guys) lets his writing and his actors do the work, all the while offering a look at the hubris and hassles of getting older.
Finding herself at a crossroads, Davina is not certain that she still has anything in common with husband Al (the wonderful and prolific Denis Lawson of, but not limited to, Bleak House, Holby City), a newspaper culture critic whose latest target is The Carpenters ("You name one of those dreadful shooting sprees and I bet I could prove they were the direct cause.") and who appears to take more interest in his copyeditors than his wife.
Her work at a local art gallery isn't very fulfilling. And, her sterile son Orlando is 30-something, just off a breakup and ready to blame his parents for everything. "The past is all I've got," sighs Orlando, leaving his dog William with his parents for safekeeping, a sort of symbol of life having lifted its leg on all three of them. "You know those people who stow away under aircraft and then they freeze to death and they fall out? One of them is bound to hit Orlando," worries Al.
Davina's frustration bubbles up so strongly it manifests itself in Frustration himself, clad in a sailor suit standing on her balcony one night. Inviting the geezer in (he's dressed as Robert Redford was in The Way We Were), Davina is reminded of her realization that she would never have sex with the movie star. "I thought I'd end up on the Isle of Capri with an Italian," she muses, and indeed, throughout the series it is Italian music that provides the soundtrack when Davina recalls her past romances.
It's not only their work and relationship that are stuck in neutral. Their exclusive neighborhood is overrun with drug addicts. When Al accidentally runs one over, a huge cloud of cocaine is released, sending William into hyper-drive. He settles the situation by offering the junkie some cash and a ride home.
Also, there's Davina's too perfect-if-not-obnoxious sister and brother-in-law who only cause the two to further dwell on what's wrong with their lives. "The little things I can handle - the cellophane on CDs and car bills," Al declares to his wife of a couple pet peeves, "but, if I have a stroke, I'm taking you with me."
Struggling with much of the same, Davina drags Al along with her to a hair salon. This provides a touching moment that expresses both the few remaining sparks left between them as well as the growing divide. He reveals that he liked her hair long because "you were like the person that I married." "I'm still the person you married," Davina replies as she fingers her newly cut hair as if to check whether she's retained her youth.
With great acting, writing and musical score, Sensitive Skin is no laugh riot, just a brilliant and dark dramedy that rings too true of our times.
On a related note, Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City, Mannequin) is due to star in an upcoming US version of the show.
Sensitive Skin airs on YES Stars 1 on Tuesdays at 10:40 p.m.
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