Yet that key arc plays out against a larger picture, one in which some of the more comfortable inhabitants of Pagford - a community so idyllic it looks like Willie Wonka should have a factory there - want to develop a retail/tourism enterprise in the spot occupied by a community center that serves the less fortunate. Rowling apparently gave writer Sarah Phelps and director Jonny Campbell considerable latitude to craft the story in a manner they saw fit, and they have largely settled on the tale of a perpetually angry teenage girl, Krystal (newcomer Abigail Lawrie), trying to look after a little brother and manage a junkie mom (Keeley Forsyth). Having partnered with the BBC again, HBO likely has the equivalent of a promotable bargain, but there’s otherwise marginal incentive to check into this “Vacancy.”
Rowling’s deviation from wizard-lit clearly had plenty on its mind, including class distinctions and social justice, but the screen version skims too lightly over an abundance of characters, generally painting the adults as cartoonish or buffoonish, and reserving what little depth and sympathy exists for the teens. Rowling’s 500-page book into a three-hour miniseries flummoxes “ The Casual Vacancy,” a project made with considerable ambition and lyricism, yet which feels scattered and unfocused.
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