‘The Slap’ Premiere: Does The Miniseries Cross The Line? – Hollywood Life

‘The Slap’ Reviews: Does The New Miniseries Go Too Far?

NBC's new miniseries 'The Slap' premieres on Feb. 12 and already the show has generated a ton of buzz due to both its risk-taking premise and structure. Before the premiere, see what the critics had to say! Throughout its eight-episode run, The Slap will depict the incidents surrounding just that: the slapping of a child. So off the bat, it's clear that controversial subject matter will be covered. Starring Uma Thurman, Zachary Quinto, Peter Sarsgaard and many others, NBC obviously has high hopes for the miniseries. But does it go too far, or is it an important commentary on a difficult subject? The reviews are in-- check out the verdict!

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February 12, 2015 2:08PM EST
the slap premiere
Image Credit: NBC

‘The Slap’ Premiere:

Artful or insensitive? That’s the question when it comes to The Slap. Before deciding whether you ‘d like to invest your time in the new miniseries, see what the word is around the web.

The A.V. Club:

The story’s general premise undersells the show’s uniqueness and depth. The Slap is not exclusively about a kid getting slapped by a practical stranger; that event is simply a microcosm of these friends, family, and acquaintances… So the question remains: Can NBC handle a series that is swaddled in shades of grey and make it a ratings success? As it stands now, The Slap may be one of the few American adaptations of a foreign program that actually works on the same levels as the original. It remains to be seen if NBC knows how to sell that.

The Atlantic:

The Slap reveals itself to be a work of ostentatious faux-prestige in its opening moments: a close-up of a beautiful young woman, scored to soft jazz, a narrator intoning, “On the day before his 40th birthday, Hector Apostolou had only one thing on his mind: Connie.” Jazz? Obvious narration? Fascination with young women? You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d flipped to a bad Woody Allen movie.

The Hollywood Reporter:

The Slap makes you want to slap it and every character that’s a part of it. That can’t be the strategy, can it? … There are egregious problems at the core of the first two episodes that NBC sent to critics. It’s an agitating piece of work by design, hoping to prompt conversation and create first impressions that it might later be able to subvert, but the takeaway is that none of the characters are particularly likeable, a large portion of the audience will probably want to slap the kid in question before he actually gets slapped and the voiceover narration is so god-awful it seems like a prank.

New York Times:

[The Slap] is a remarkable feat — a sophisticated, suspenseful comedy of ill manners that seems much more like a Showtime or Netflix drama than a broadcast network offering.

Well, there ya have it!

Now that you’ve read the reviews, it’s your turn: Will you tune into The Slap?

— Casey Mink

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