In the news: Across the River to Motor City reviews

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• Whodunit tale of love lost straddles two cities, two eras
  “Across the River to Motor City (CITY-TV, 10 p.m.) makes excellent use of Windsor as a state of mind. A new, six-part, Canadian mystery-drama, it opens with a muddled first episode, but then develops into an original and compelling story of love lost, lives wasted and toxic suspicions surfacing over and over again.” Read more.

From Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star:

• Bridge over troubled drama
  “Smart, ambitious series has the potential to be great, but time-hopping pilot confuses viewers.” Read more.

From Alex Strachan of CanWest:

• ‘Across the River’ well worth watching
  “In style and in tone, Across the River to Motor City resembles the stylish, cerebral dramas of American pay-TV channels HBO and Showtime. It wears its ambition openly — in just three minutes, we’re introduced to the main character and the setting: Windsor, Ont., in both present day and Nov. 22, 1963, the day of the Kennedy assassination. The story — a murder mystery — will flash back and forth between then and now over the course of the series. Two cities, two periods in time, but with the same characters and the same central mystery.” Read more.

From Ted Shaw of the Windsor Star:

• Ambassador Bridge star of series
  “For Matthew Deslippe, Motor City was more than just across the river from his hometown of Amherstburg. It was his main cultural influence. ‘We watched American television, followed American sports,’ said Deslippe, who plays mobster Frank Calasso in Citytv’s Across the River to Motor City, starting tonight at 10 p.m. on cable 61. ‘CBC was the only Canadian TV we saw. We were very Americanized.'” Read more.

Denis McGrath, the show’s writer, has some thoughts:

• River of Reviews
  “Well the reviews are in. And they’re mixed. But the funny thing is — in all the critical things that get said, they’re right. Every one of them. It makes me feel great to know that, you know what, they are watching closely, and they are fair. And perceptive. Yay!” Read more.