A 1998 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 6-part
serial written, directed, and produced by
Ken Finkleman, who reprises his role of TV
news producer George Findlay (last seen in
The Newsroom). Findlay halfway through this serial begins making a movie--about the rottenness of
society:
media manipulation, corrupt
politicians,
lousy welfare services--but the
network decides it just doesn't get the
plot and closes down the production. This may be what happened to
More Tears too, because its ending feels sudden and
premature. As in
The Newsroom (also Finkleman's
brainchild), the screwed-up values of and those who get caught up in its tractor beam are poked fun at, but in a somewhat more
disillusioned manner.
The real story of this serial (and George's self-indulgent movie) is the Life of George Findlay and how he perceives women, love, power, corruption and lies; and the main pleasure lies in watching Finkleman/Findlay act remote in a natty black suit (by Katharine Hamnett maybe, who knows) and sunglasses as various characters (including a wife and two mistresses) try to figure out his mindset.
Finkleman/Findlay hardly speaks (when he does, it's not exactly a burst of eloquence). While he's being spoken to, at or about, the effect of his near-total silence is to focus the viewer on his face, hand gestures and eyebrows in a vain effort to glean his thoughts about it all. The result of this concentrated scrutiny is that for the viewer, Finkleman (surprisingly) becomes almost as magnetically enigmatic a figure as Greta Garbo. Whether the man himself realized this is the question.