Z: The Beginning of Everything

The Jazz Age Fitzgeralds were such lightning in a bottle, that to try and capture it is audacious: we know the champagne will pour and the fame will come, and the real pain will come with the hangovers and end in despair for the both of them.

But the controversial choice of Christina Ricci as Jazz Baby Number One instead of any other McAdams Barbie doll from the Hollywood shelf gives this pilot a bounce and possibility because she is such a hellcat. I'm already jonesin' for her wild gin-fed car scream rides and Paris fountain dances. And David Strathairn is such a delightfully stolid and formal southern judge for her to bounce off of.

Fitz is such a limp hankie next to her--which was probably true--that watching him ignite into brilliance from her bad girl spark and become the man who could write Gatsby and fall Icarus-like back to Earth in her skirts to face the Depression is very promising.

Most importantly, this is a sumptuous period piece from one of two most exciting decades of the last century. If Amazon orders more of "Z", I will be a devoted watcher. Thanks for letting us review.

I have a particular fondness for period dramas & this one didn't disappoint. It didn't get a 9 -10 because I felt the storyline could have had more depth which I was expecting to be developed in a second season. I'm unsure of the time span it was supposed to represent but I didn't get that Zelda was there long enough to be known as the original flapper & icon of the age. It seemed unfinished to leave it where it did.

First, I'll comment on the divided reviews. Although not typically my cup of tea; the production was well done. Considering this is basically a historical Bio-Drama, which took place in an era some 100 years ago, it wasn't bad at all.

I was surprised to see Ricci cast as Zelda, but she did a decent job, as did Fitzgerald's portrayer.

If you know the story of Fitzgerald, it's really a very depressing ballad. He was a serious alcoholic up until a year prior to his premature death. Zelda was perhaps worse as her mental illness truly manifest itself as she aged, but still relatively young.

I believe the production did a good job in a few areas, not the least of which was, early on, conveying to the viewer their self-absorbed pretentiousness. Whether or not this was typical with success in those circles, it was honestly, fairly disgusting. As such, I'm sure most viewers could not empathize with either of them (let alone sympathize.) The series is slow at times and my wife and I watched it in pieces over several nights. As is so often the case, the producers/writers just plain ignored quite a bit. Just as well. I mean how much misery can we take.

But the sets, attire, music, and filters did indeed achieve a good (shall we say) "flapper" atmosphere & ambience.

All that said, I do agree with the praises by other reviewers. But it not going to have appeal for those who don't go in for this type of production. For me, I was OK with it, but certainly, could never venture a 2nd viewing.

Bob R.

I cannot believe the negative reviews for this series! I am extremely interested in the Jazz Age/Flapper/Prohibition era as well as the Fitzgeralds who were true embodiments of this time period.

I think it was beautifully filmed, and despite what some reviewers say, I believe Christina Ricci was an excellent choice to play the complicated Zelda Fitzgerald. I won't drone on and on but just need to say I am so disappointed this wasn't picked up for at least one more season.

One more thing: I am so tired of special effects/vulgarity/and fast-paced MTV generation short attention span dialogue that is found in most contemporary shows and films!

This film is adapted from a novelised version of the Scott and Zelda story, seen from Zelda's angle for once - much in line with Christina Ricci's own feminist agenda, as she has explained to the media at some length.

It sheds an unflattering light on Scott, deservedly enough, because he was indeed an immature and incomplete character, whose drinking shocked even Hemingway. Yet Hemingway blamed Zelda for distracting Scott from a sensible day's work, although he did fall back on her extensive diaries for much of the detail in his novels.

But any political message is bound to be eclipsed by the sheer fun of a Roaring Twenties spectacular, based around the couple who essentially invented that decade (in Scott's own phrase, 'The Jazz Age'). We start at the fag-end of the Great War, with 20-year olds writing their Last Will and Testament, as they await the fateful crossing to France. Posted to Alabama, Scott meets Zelda, the local county belle, spoilt and wilful, who is rather casually doing her bit for the war effort. There is a believable portrayal of a respectable Southern home, where Zelda's father, played with deep conviction by David Strathairn, tries to keep her in order, while "Well-behaved women don't make history" is flashed-up on the screen, as though it was coined by Zelda, which it wasn't.

We have to conclude that Zelda's fame as Scott's muse will always outshine any other role she may have hoped for (novelist, artist, ballerina), and Ricci fills the role as well as anyone could, despite being twice the age of the girl she plays. The title comes from Scott's declaration "I love her, and it is the beginning of everything". This may not seem to mean much, though it is true that he might never have got his first novel into print (third try), if Zelda had not stipulated this as her first condition of their engagement.

The puzzle remains as to why Amazon decided at the last moment to cancel this promising series before its second season (September 2017).