‘The Tourist’ review: A jumbled mystery burying dark comedy gold

In The Tourist, Jamie Dornan plays a man who doesn't know who he is — and that might be the main problem with HBO and Two Brothers Pictures' miniseries in a nutshell. While The Tourist offers up admirable production, performances, and execution, it squanders seeds of dark comedy promise. The six episodes ultimately amount to an ordinary thriller, even as Dornan leads with aplomb.

Dornan plays a man who wakes up with amnesia and a troubling past waiting in the wings. He has no ID and no memories. But while retracing his steps, he receives frantic phone calls from a man buried alive in the Australian outback. With no friend in the world besides probationary constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald), The Man races to save the man in the ground and discover exactly what sort of person he is. Harry and Jack Williams wrote the series and executive produced with Chris Sweeney, who directs with Daniel Nettheim.

That's a spoiler-free overview of the first two episodes, which misrepresent The Tourist's highlights. The man-in-the-ground and a violent cowboy on The Man's tail (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) set up Breaking Bad levels of darkness and some truly sickening scenes. But McDonald in particular seems to be on a different show, playing Helen with mockumentary-tier comic timing and an awkward charm that sets The Man at ease from the start. The Tourist is a buddy comedy in its best moments, something it should mightily lean into if it gets another season.

Just a couple pals going for burritos! Credit: Ian Routledge / Two Brothers Pictures

Once the show hits its stride, Dornan gets to showcase an underutilized side of him (known to those wise enough to check out Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar, but still). The show’s best moments are The Man discovering Mexican food, angrily screaming that he doesn’t know who Simon & Garfunkel are, and an ill-timed pun that made me shriek with laughter so baldly that I nearly blew out a nearby candle. Dornan and McDonald's comedic chemistry outshines the contrived sexual tension between The Man and Luci (Shalom Brune-Franklin) by a long shot. It's also a rare treat to hear Dornan in all his Northern Irish glory without the honey-bee baggage.

Despite the uneven tone, The Tourist executes its story with style. Scott Bird's production design works with Geoffrey Hall and Ben Wheeler's cinematography for a gritty, rustic visual palette. Everything feels just slightly orange, a little sunburnt like our lost hero on his quest. The fight sequences and chase scenes elicit the desired physical effect and emotional response — in other words, everyone did their job and did it well. Damon Herriman, Alex Dimitriades, and Kamil Ellis round out a strong supporting cast, and Victoria Haralabidou gives a scene-stealing turn as a mysterious woman popping up in flashes of memory.

With such charm in its lighter moments, The Tourist struggles to match that magnetism with its drama. It’s no surprise to learn The Man is the one responsible for burying that guy, or that he has a dark history of violence, murder, and drug running. I’ve seen The Bourne Identity, but these days I’m more into Barry: A twisted, refreshing story about a tortured man seeking lightness and redemption. The Tourist falls short of that bar, but it’s a valiant effort.

The Tourist is now streaming on HBO Max.