ledward2

Wow. This is what great storytelling looks like. Riveting. Great acting. Great casting. Great cinematography. It feels like Memphis circa 1972. Make no mistake, this isn't a warm and fuzzy, feel-good experience. It's gritty. Painful even. And it's brilliant. Can't believe it wasn't renewed for another season. Or many seasons. As another review noted, it's akin to Breaking Bad...in all he best ways. No it isn't derivative. Not even close. But it taps into that same human condition that makes BB so compelling. The protagonist is, well, he's many things. Lovable. Pitiful. Flawed. Noble. Damaged. Compassionate. Loving. And capable of doing some downright evil stuff. Easily one of my favorite shows.

I thoroughly enjoyed the limited series. If you need long action sequences a la Marvel, you might get bored. But the story is compelling and even engrossing nonetheless. The late 70s and early 80s setting was masterful. Clothes, cars, decor, fads (eg jogging). My high rating of an 8, however, is largely due to the acting and cinematography. There are several iconic scenes that I watched more than once. The two male leads were great. Co-star Lynskey (Betty Gore) was even better. Then there was Biel. Wow. What a performance. I never considered her to be a bad actor before, I just never considered her. At all. No more. Can't wait to see what she does next. Lastly kudos to the producers for making this a 5 part series. A movie wouldn't do it justice. But more episodes and definitely more seasons would've been overkill. Just right.

Perhaps the joke's on me. I fell for the bait ("#1 on Netflix!!!"), so I clicked. Oof. This isn't good. Plot holes galore. And the ending is absurd. I was downright angered. I finished it bc I felt I owed it to myself. I wish I had those 8 hours of my life back. I don't enjoy disparaging someone's art but I'm not sure this qualifies as art.