Corvus-9 A taut and topical political thriller that, unfortunately, goes off the rails.In its defense, the basic premise is plausible, the writing is tense and dramatic, and the acting and direction are professional. Other posters have complained about implausibilities in the plot, and the wrong names used for things. A political thriller must have some unexpected twists or there would be no story, and we can assume that the "H2O" world has different names for things like the RCMP and War Measures Act.The series, however, goes off the rails in the third hour. We can accept one or two extremely implausible events if the story requires it, but when near-impossible events happen again and again, with a new one each few minutes, credibility crumbles. Worse, earlier crises are left unresolved before the next one hits.I'll give an example. An assassin is killing anyone, no matter how powerful or insignificant, who threatens the conspiracy. One of the major characters is a police detective who is about to unravel the plot. The assassin traps her, spills clues about the conspiracy, and then lets her go. This is an absurd Hollywoodism, like something from an old Flash Gordon serial. There are even bigger howlers in the series, and I know what happens later, but this is the one that made me want to throw something at the TV.The series plays like it was written by a committee, and each member wanted to get their plot twist in whether it made sense or not. The ending is a disappointment too; there is yet another plot twist in the last few minutes and the story just stops. All the viewer is left with is a huge number of unresolved plot twists.

sheenabeena123 As someone who is very fond of politics- especially Canadian politics- this film deeply troubles me.It is the story of how the country can be bought and sold so easily. It is a warning. While extremely unlikely, this could happen. It uses characters very deliberately based on previous Canadian icons (Trudeau being the big one) to hit close to home. These people have already been in power and we never thought anything overly terrible of what they did while they were in power. This film- in a very Isaac Asimov way (though, obviously Asimov was brilliant and Gross, while a good writer, cannot compare) shows us how close we are to our greatest fears. One day, the prime minister dies in a canoeing incident and after running and winning leadership of the party his father lead, his son takes power and starts pushing through some very aggressive legislations. Later, we find out that his father's death and that of the woman who was with him were suspicious in the extreme and we start to see little by little what's really going on, though the ending is a total shock. It is hard to describe without giving it away, so suffice it to say it uses past Canadian political experiences (the Free Trade agreement, the War Measures Act, Black October) to show how close we are to losing it all. With outstanding direction (actually making Parliament Hill look sexy), great acting from Paul Gross, Guy Nadon and Martha Henry and a shocker ending, this is well worth watching. Especially for Canadian political junkies like me.

dougmoyer43 I have never been a fan of "made for TV movies" or "mini series", but lately I've found myself looking more Canadian shows to watch. This movie certainly was that. If you don't know much about the Canadian (or British) Parliamentary democracy then you might be a little lost.I'm not a movie "critic" by any means, but I found this show kept my interest over two nights and four hours. Well written, acted, and never predictable. I would recommend this movie to any Canadian interested in Canadian/American politics, and even to anyone else curious about our political system. Maybe PBS will show it some day.

colin1mc Paul Gross learned many things while playing a Mountie on US TV, I will grant him that. That is all, however, that I will grant him. This 2-part mini-series looks slick, but that is as deep as it goes. The attempts to portray a kind of unrequited affair with the female lead were pathetic. The portrayal that either the First Nations or Quebec would present a serious threat with actual violence (as seen in this film) is laughable; sorry, but Paul Gross is too much a pretty-boy to be taken seriously in this role. Bottom line: the premise is flawed (you cannot possibly be elected in a by-election, then become Prime Minister within the time-frame presented); and the enactment of such a thing as the War Meaures Act could not possibly occur within the context of this movie. Given what went on within Quebec the last time it was used (I was there), an enactment of it under the circumstances presented in this movie is an incomprehensible thing to anyone who lived there at that time. You want to create the situation for a referendum on sovereignty? That would be it, and sovereignty would win, with my vote helping! Second bottom line:way too slick overall to be taken seriously as any kind of drama/commentary on the world we live in in reality! 2 thumbs DOWN! Not even worth a re-watch.