“She’s ‘Ollie’ to her husband and ‘Mrs. K’ to the students in her middle-school mathematics class, and her daughter-in-law insists on calling her ‘Mom.’ But audiences will forever know this unforgettable, irascible woman as Olive Kitteridge, thanks to the remarkably complex portrayal Frances McDormand delivers over the course of a four-hour HBO miniseries she optioned and developed herself, bringing aboard her Laurel Canyon helmer, Lisa Cholodenko, to direct. Even more so than 2011’s Mildred Pierce, this finely crafted, wonderfully cast meller suggests a promising new life for the women’s-picture genre on nets willing to let such stories breathe.” — from Peter Debruge‘s 9.1.14 Variety review, filed during the Venice Film Festival.

Olive Kitteridge, which follows the titular character over a quarter-century, is based on Elizabeth Strout’s 2008 novel, which is composed of 13 short stories. It costars Richard Jenkins, Bill Murray, Zoe Kazan and John Gallagher, Jr. The first two parts of the four-part series will air on Sunday, 11.2, parts 3 and 4 on Monday, 11.3.