At times right on the money, while falling just shy of pure magnificence in other areas, this superb production is a testament to why Dickens' sprawling cast and psychological melodrama remain an example of such engaging, enduring storytelling — from that world-famous opening line until its equally renowned closing sentence.

I liked A Tale of Two Cities a lot, without always loving it, but in its strongest moments, it's a very worthy new take on Dickens' story that builds to an excellent climax worthy of its crown as one of the finest endings in literary history.

Mack makes a consistently vital impression — one can see why everyone’s in love with her. (Harington, the big name here, is less vivid; he’s more interesting before Carton falls for Lucie, when he’s still a bit of jerk and not simply sad most of the time.)

The story does have great moments. Waiting for those moments requires quite a bit of patience, though. .... It also suggests that a far, far better adaptation might have been possible if the considerable talent behind the “Tale” had been more constructively liberated.

The story itself is probably good enough to pull some viewers along from episode to episode, but the telling definitely is not good enough to inspire anybody to seek out MGM+.