Critic Reviews

It's all as addictive as an uber-fresh, ice-cold slice of watermelon on one of the hills of Rome in the scorching heat.

The performances are superb, especially that of Sewell in the title role. He underplays the part to sublime perfection, making Aurelio Zen one of the most attractive and fascinating TV cops in years.

I'll just say that the three-episode run of Zen, based on a series of mysteries by Michael Dibdin about a Venice-born, Rome-based cop named Aurelio Zen--you thought maybe he was a Buddhist?--was absorbing enough that I'm planning to check out the books next.

There is little resistance to cliche in all this, but the cliche is so visually appealing that you'll feel like a spoiled child if you complain. And you're given such a treat that you'll also feel like one, begging for more.

The series is set in modern-day Rome, where the women wear tight skirts, the men are in sharp suits, and even the corruption is exquisite in its labyrinthine complexity.

In this clever series of politically and sexually charged Masterpiece Mystery! movies based on books by Michael Dibdin, and beautifully filmed on location, lone wolf Zen finds his reputation for integrity challenged on all sides.

Zen works, to the extent it does, thanks to Sewell's shell-shocked gaze as he navigates the shark-infested bureaucracy, the way-cool Adrian Johnston score and Rome's intoxicating beauty, with Murino (a Bond girl in "Casino Royale") among the more arresting of Italy's natural assets.

Sewell looks good in the Italian suits and shades, the supporting cast is generally good and the atmosphere is effective even when the pacing has problems.

Both as twisty mystery and armchair vacation, it's a good way to pass a summer night.

Despite the pleasures of these performances, the series drags. Inside each of Zen's 90-minute episodes lies, one suspects, a crisp hour.