Law & Order: Criminal Intent – The Third Year
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on September 23rd, 2004
This second spin-off of the popular Law & Order franchise focuses on solving grisly murders rather than building a case against the suspected murderer. Law & Order’s winning formula always has the detectives putting together a body of evidence for the prosecution. In Criminal Intent, the stories involve only developing motive and intent for the murder and then confronting the suspect to elicit a confession. Each episode of Criminal Intent is laid out like a Murder She Wrote story: a… opening situation provides context for the murder, the crime scene is examined, the detective finds clues and interview suspect and ultimately develops a motive so convincing that the confronted suspect confesses. It’s formulaic, but it makes for good storytelling which gives the viewer a ringside seat to the solution of every whodunit.
The character central to Criminal Intent is Detective Robert Goren, a master of observation and intuition who uses his unique perspective on life and psychology to see what others won’t. He is part Sherlock Holmes and part Rain Man. In the third season, Vincent D’Onofrio settles nicely in his role as Goren, making the character something more than just dialogue in a script. His idiosyncrasies in speech and movement make him intriguing and watchable. His childlike fascination with the crime scene and his quirky take on the human psyche are unique among crime dramas.
In contrast to Goren’s larger than life presence is his partner, Detective Eames, whose roll is primarily restricted to that of a sounding board for Goren’s analyses. The relationship between the two appears to be lifted from The X-Files’ Mulder/Scully duo, without the sexual tension. The rest of the cast is weak and simply added to give Goren people to interact with. This series is a one-man show, watching a master solve crimes and interview suspects. This is a huge departure from the strong ensemble casts from the other Law & Order series.
As camera work and music are practically non-existent, and there is little character development, the only thing to carry each episode is the story. Thankfully, these are well written and enjoyable. The result is a series of interesting but slow-paced plots, although the pace usually picks up during Goren’s interrogation as tension builds to a crescendo.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track sounds clear and crisp, with minimal hissing in some episodes. As the sound is limited almost entirely to dialog, don’t expect a big workout from your surrounds. The musical score is limited to the opening credits and the trademark act-ending Dum-dum sound, and both sound good, although they could be louder.
Video
The series is presented in original 4:3 aspect ratio. The overall intent for the look of the show appears to be vivid colors pre-murder, sterile white-on-black post-mortem. Artistically, this may seem like a good idea, but the drab colors rob the show of some needed life. The blacks are deep, but somewhat over-used. The image suffers from some noticeable fuzziness in the lighter color elements, which I would not expect from a series aired a year ago.
Special Features
The extras consist of four cast interviews and a set tour. Two of the interviews are with secondary cast members – they have more lines in the 4 minutes interviews than they had in the entire season. Not interesting. The third interview is with private eye and show consultant Mike Struk. This adds some credibility to the show by explaining how the consultant ensures story and scene elements are kept realistic. The fourth interview is the most interesting feature. We have a lengthy interview with D’Onofrio, whereby he explains his analysis of the Goren character. The interesting part is that D’Onofrio does the interview while not being fully out of character. This gives and added insight into the actors method. Lastly, we get a set tour with Executive Producer Fred Berner. Interesting, but not fascinating.
The menus are well designed and look nice and clear, with minimal animation. The top menu is accompanied by the opening theme. Additional layers are easily accessed. Nothing spectacular, but they work well.
Final Thoughts
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an interesting series with good stories. The show is low on bells and whistle, keeping sound, color and personality to a minimum, with the entire soul invested in Goren or the occasional intriguing suspect. The result is a smart but slow paced show – good to watch, but not exactly fun.
Special Features List
- Interviews
- Set tour
