Binge’s Postcard Bandit drama falls short of capturing Brenden Abbott
To run ★★½
Brenden Abbott, a career criminal currently imprisoned in Western Australia, made headlines in the 1980s and 1990s for robbing banks, successfully living on the run for years and twice escaping prison when caught by police. His notoriety was further fueled by a pithy nickname: The Postcard Bandit. Abbott allegedly sent taunting postcards to law enforcement, but this story was a myth made up by the police. It’s really very convenient. Even today, Abbott’s life and crimes lend themselves well to fabrication.
Boasting a very clear disclaimer about what “based on a true story” allows. To run It is a six-part drama that attempts to paint a complete portrait of Abbott (George Mason) in his halcyon years. As a familiar crime genre piece, it works competently and with plenty of invention, but it falls short of doing what police across the country have been trying for years – catch Brenden Abbott. While the DNA of cops and robbers filling in the gaps may seem generic, the psychological portrait is riveting.
Complexity for the writing team headed by Matt Cameron (Swap, Successful), portraying Abbott as a criminal anti-hero is reductive and outdated. He terrorized hundreds of people at gunpoint during nearly 50 brazen bank robberies and To run he rightly strives to show that trauma is not always easily shaken. Nola (Julia Nihill), a teller in the first bank robbery depicted in the 1987 suburbs of Perth, slowly falls apart over the years after looking down the barrel of Abbott’s masked gun.
There are high-adrenaline moments, including the opening scene where Abbott launches the prison riot, but To run It focuses on Abbott as a cool professional who is both ambitious and derailed by his personal flaws. Unable to resist her risky relationship with her blockhead brother Glenn (David Howell), she longs to reconnect with the father who abandoned her and tries to control the love of her life, Jackie (Ashleigh Cummings), and then the mother of his child, Lily (Roxie Mohebbi). Is this Brenden Abbott or Don Draper?
The dogged police officer Gary Porter (Keiynan Lonsdale), who is meant to be a reflection of Abbott, is too long a cipher, and his storytelling eludes the procedural skills that Abbott actually possesses. There is little mention of patient preparation, little detail on how a pre-digital loophole works. Abbott’s professional moves are repeatedly depicted as hasty reactions to personal setbacks; His father doesn’t see him, so Abbott storms a bank. The great Robyn Malcolm sharpens every scene as Abbott’s mother Thelma, but it’s never clear who’s who. To run He’s really after it.
To run currently streaming on Binge.
Find out the next TV series, streaming series and movies to add to your must-watch list. Get the Watch List delivered every Thursday.
