Stiffly attentive in their chairs, trying to look properly interested in the proceedings, the actors only reinforce the impression that what we are witnessing is less a drama than an animated science seminar.
(Mr. Watkins's hair charts its own journey across proceedings, the actor in the initial passages resembling no one so much as a young Mickey Rooney).
Nevertheless, there is a perceptible thinness to the sheen of the proceedings, and the actors — with the sturdy exception of Anthony Wong, who plays the boss of the police squad — rely on a flow of soulful, impassive cool.
I very much hope that Sky TV will cover the proceedings by using actors' reconstructions – thespians with long grey hair hunched over their guitars — just as they did with the Michael Jackson trial.
It was reported on Thursday that Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole has also issued proceedings, as have actor Jude Law and a solicitor who has represented him.
Imagine the Dallas producers writing JR Ewing out of proceedings because the actor who played him, Larry Hagman, got too big for his cowboy boots?
Ayer, a name most identified with urban thrillers like Training Day and End of Watch, brings a certain blood-on-the-lens integrity to proceedings; if only the actors, with the exception of the porous, vulnerable Logan Lerman, would unclench their capable jaws from time to time.
Luca Guadagnino's nimble camerawork brings a mesmerizing immediacy to the proceedings, making these telegenic actors look even more stunning, and the production design even more breathtaking.
David Lavine's sweet charm and understated enjoyment of the hazards and riches of a life in the theater imparts much-needed levity to the pointless proceedings, and the young actor seems to be reaching for something deeper.
Oh, and Frange, a fretful, fastidious type, can't help interrupting the proceedings occasionally to interview an actor about the play's interpretation.
