As an avid cinephile and hoop head, I understand how my opinions on 'Winning Time' may seem biased. That being said, I think it provides a unique lens for us to watch this roller coaster of a series through.
From a basketball standpoint, the series is fantastic so far. In-game sequences and practice scenes can easily look bad on screen sometimes. Can't have a basketball show without good basketball- that's like having a vampire movie without blood (Morbius); seeing them execute game-play this well is a major green flag. The depictions of iconic figures like the Jerry's, the Buss's, Pat Riley, Magic and so many others, is so fantastically well done, hilariously accurate, and full of dramatic surprises. My basketball history is well above average I'd say, and even I am shocked at some of the cliffhangers and learning new integral parts of the showtime Lakers story. They don't shy away from the explicit dirty details which for me is a joy to see, like the utterly ridiculous nature of the logo himself. And Adrian Brodie as Pat Riley, wow. Hell yeah I'm into that.
Side note; there are dozens of satisfying cameos depicting countless pop culture legends throughout the series.
From a film making standpoint, my goodness, this show is freaking spectacular. Adam McKay is killing it, Jonah Hill directs a fantastic second episode, and Max Borenstein is truly bringing it with this story. Each episode is so incredibly well paced, with some pretty shocking cliffhangers to boot. Also, do yourselves a favour, and don't go researching for yourself until after you watch; filling in the grey areas and gaps in this teams history from watching has been a helluvah good time. Winning Time features a world of near-perfect casting choices. I was pretty sold on everyone (except Kareem) from the jump. I mean, Hughes is good, but I just watched the Kareem documentary a week before I'd seen the trailer for this and thought to myself, "damn wouldn't it be great to have a dramatization of this, but make it 70s. Dirty, grainy, blaxploitation"- and wouldn't yuh know it, the showtime lakers are getting the treatment. I appreciate the creators for taking the time to flesh out these incredible figures, and really letting us live in them; I didn't expect that at first, but I was thrilled to see everyone get their backstories, especially Kareems. I've been hearing some awesome playlists in most of the shows I've been watching lately, and Winning Time is no exception. From the title track, to Kareems extensive Jazz collection, Britell & Glasper are also nailing it.
In summation, so far so good. It's sexy, it's exciting, it's everything I've been wanting from a series. A blaxploitation inspired sports drama with a lot of laughs, stellar performances, and wonderful storytelling. I've been enjoying a ton of great tv lately, and Winning Time is right up there with the best of them. If you like good filmmaking, you'll enjoy this. If you like basketball, you'll have fun. If you happen to love both, this will probably be your new favourite show.
