Was Sarah Harding any good in Freefall?

Freefall was a big success last night, even if one of our readers did complain that it was nowhere near as good as it had been trumpeted (most things aren't). As Our Mim said, it was the kind of drama that continues the fine traditions of British drama, and it was pretty much universally praised by critics. It will go down in recent TV history as the first ever credit crunch drama, but it also heralded Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding's acting debut. Was she any good, or should she just stick to the day job?


As I mentioned earlier, Our Mim already reviewed the film, but as I watched it on iPlayer this morning, apart from enjoying Domonic Savage's very natural dialogue and emotional story, I did try to have a look at how Sarah was doing.
To be fair she was in it only for a couple of scenes, so it was hard to get a handle on ultimately how good or bad she is as an actress. She played the girlfriend of professional scumbag mortgage seller Dave, who was living the pre-credit crunch lifestyle of mock Tudor mansions and expensive jewellery.
Her key scene was when she had to confront Dave about his philandering (he had just enjoyed a threesome after a night out). She shouted and she swore and she cried a bit. In fact, she cried with distinction.
So Sarah did ok, that's the short analysis, but I'd much prefer to talk about the likes of Joseph Mawle, Anna Maxwell Martin, Rosamund Pike, Alfie Allen and, especially, Aiden Gillen. He's got this incredible, enigmatic, almost androgynous look about him. I mean, he's a very good looking man, but his intense stare and glazed, fixed eyes seem to lift him above mere gender.
Joseph Mawle also deserves a bit of a mention, for his portrayal of a man whose life was falling apart.
Decent stuff, with some high-grade acting and writing. If Sarah Harding is serious about acting, then this was a pretty good training ground.

http://www.tvscoop.tv/2009/07/was_sarah_hardi.html