Tnt Presents David As Biblical Hero With Feet Of Clay
Some of the heroes in the Bible are difficult to identify with: Who can hope to be as wise as Solomon, as strong as Samson or as patient as Job?
But everybody digs imperfect David, whose scorecard is filled with both thunderous hits and wrongheaded errors:
He slew Goliath with a slingshot: good.
He saw Bathsheba bathing, decided to get to know her, and sent her husband off to be killed in battle: bad.
His family can fairly be described as dysfunctional, although you can decide on your scorecard at home whether he or his sons deserve the blame.
He fathered Solomon: good.
Well, two or three out of four ain’t bad, which is among the reasons why his name has been famous for thousands of years. You can observe his ups and downs again in “David,” a four-hour miniseries beginning at 7 tonight on the TNT Cable Channel and concluding Wednesday at the same time.
David is played as a boy by Gideon Turner and as a man by Nathaniel Parker, both handsome enough for the role. Sheryl Lee, best-known as murder victim Laura Palmer on the old “Twin Peaks” series, portrays Bathsheba adequately, although not unforgettably. Solid support is provided by Jonathan Pryce as Saul, who preceded David as the king of Israel, and Leonard Nimoy as the prophet Samuel, who anointed both Saul and David to rule.
This miniseries is the work of proven veterans, since it is the sixth biblical epic presented by TNT. The series began with “Abraham” in 1994, and continued with “Jacob,” “Joseph,” “Moses” and “Samson and Delilah.”
“Solomon” is up next, and the entire 30-hour package will conclude with a finale about several prophets.
A great deal of forethought goes into these productions, but no matter how well-intentioned, it is unlikely that any biblical story will ever be perfectly told on film.
Tonight, for example, Giorgio Francesco Palombi makes a suitably menacing Goliath, although he lacks the stature of the gargantuan Philistine. Since Goliath’s height is listed in the Bible as “six cubits and a span” (9 feet, 9 inches), Central Casting can’t answer a call for a perfect specimen. The minor embellishments that writer Larry Gross added to the biblical account - some good, some bad - do no major damage.
Tonight’s opening half of “David” covers the reign of Saul and concludes with David taking Bathsheba as his mistress. Highlights include how David met his second wife, Abigail (Lina Sastri), and a re-creation of the climactic battle of Saul’s reign, against the Philistines at Gilboa.
Wednesday’s closing half is divided between the love story of David and Bathsheba and the attempt by one of David’s numerous sons, Absalom (Dominic Rowan) to kill him and take over the throne.
Their estrangement began when another of David’s sons, Amnon (Edward Hall), raped beautiful, young, innocent Tamar (Clara Bellar), who was Absalom’s sister and Amnon’s half-sister. Since David had at least four wives and 17 sons, plus an uncounted collection of concubines, the possibilities for household conflict were obviously abundant.
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TV PREVIEW The four-hour miniseries “David” begins at 7 tonight on the TNT Cable Channel and concludes at the same time on Wednesday.