Jack Irish (Movies, Seasons 1-2)

Jack Irish is the creation of Australian crime writer, Peter Temple, and the lead character of four of his novels.  He is a lawyer turned debt collector who moonlights as a private investigator.  I haven’t read the novels but I got around to watching the televisual rendering of his adventures.  So far there have been 3 made-for-television movies and one six-parter, directly based on the novels, and another six-parter with original content around the character. 

It is a distinctly Australian drama in its setting, characters and humour.  Where it stands out is that despite brutal murders and a high body count, there is a lot to smile about, thanks to the colourful characters, running gags, and witty dialogue.  The ace in the pack, though, is Guy Pearce as the title character, in a role that some say, he was born to play. In the words of one reviewer, he exhibits a “world-weary charm exemplifying the best of the Australian character –getting on with the job at hand with a minimum of fuss and bother, always with the aim of doing the right thing by the underdog.”

On the downside, the plotting, while engrossing, is twisted to the point of being convoluted, especially in Season 2.  Or as one character puts it to Mr. Irish: “It's never just straightforward with you, is it, Jack?  You know, never a meat and three veg murder.”  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this a lot.

Here’s a link to a clip that captures some of the flavour of the movies and the series.

Here’s a link to the aired order of the movies and the series.  On some streaming services, the season categorisation is as shown here.