Critic Reviews

Cerebral, engrossing.

The series illuminates details left out of other standard Civil War stories, and it will have you looking up the real history on Wikipedia. A special emphasis on the Wall Street tycoons who supported the Confederacy (and became rich from the slave trade) illustrates parallels with modern-day politics. Good art tells a story you can't stop thinking about, but great art tells a story that makes you think about real life.

Even though it has some issues, I quickly became obsessed with this limited series’ compelling story. Historical nuggets, powerful performances, and an engrossing investigation that had a lasting impact on American history lead to Manhunt being an addictive true crime thriller.

All of this might sound like a dry history lesson, but the show becomes fully three-dimensional in its performances, particularly a stunning one from Menzie.

It's in many ways a subtle drama, but is also highly emotionally charged. What it lacks in pace, and there are times at which this drags the show down, it does thankfully make up for in powerful character drama.

Manhunt is compelling television by virtue of being both a riveting political thriller and an intimate human drama. Whatever you think you know about the Lincoln assassination already, be prepared to walk away with a reshaped understanding of events — or, at the very least, an appreciation for this new examination of one of the most infamous crimes in history.

Long after Stanton’s cat-and-mouse pursuit of John Wilkes Booth (Masters of the Air‘s Anthony Boyle) has concluded, what lingers is the series’ portrait of a nation at a crossroads, and its reflection on the bitter compromises and hard-won triumphs of the era that resonate to this day. To get there, though, Manhunt begins by delivering on the breathless conspiracy thriller it’s packaged as.

Well-played and strikingly made, Manhunt is part crime potboiler, part political thriller, part historical overview — and each strand works a treat.

It's the rare miniseries that feels one episode too short, rather than two episodes too long. Filled with fascinating details that go well beyond high school history books and strong performances from its leads to its bit players, Manhunt is never less than compelling, however.

Menzies' energy elevates the material. Stanton, as written, is a typical hero, down to the wife who begs him to abandon this dangerous and all-consuming mission, think of his health and so on. With all that, he still sculpts a performance that is solid granite supporting a crackled shale of a script.