Sundays 9 pm HBO
"You can't be half a gangster, Nucky. Not anymore."
I watch a lot of TV, but I know myself well enough to know that I can barely keep up with movies reviews, let alone a weekly show. However, there are a number (3, if you want me to be specific) of new shows starting in the next 8 months or so (the other two are The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, if you want me to be even more specific) that I'm really goddamn excited for and with that enthusiasm in mind, I've decided to attempt weekly reviews for these shows. They'll probably be a bit shorter than my movie reviews, which should help with not falling behind. Since we're talking about the pilot here, I'll avoid spoilers, but with following episodes, I'll have to delve into plot specifics, so if you don't plan on keeping up with the show, I'd recommend you only read this review and hold off on the other ones.
Boardwalk Empire is the tip of the spear in what seems to be HBO's effort to reclaim their title as the kings of premium-quality cable TV, since Showtime, AMC and FX have been kicking their ass in the last few years. The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Deadwood and Rome all ended within about two years of each other. So basically, between 2008 and 2010, HBO was running on Entourage and True Blood which...isn't really something to be proud of (Although they did do the John Adams and Generation Kill mini-series during that time, which were great). Tremé and The Pacific kicked off the 2010 relaunch and Boardwalk Empire seems like the a sure critical and commercial hit for the network.
Well, they were pretty much right. Boardwalk Empire is set in 1920 in Atlantic City, where the county treasurer, Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi) brokers arrangements between a burgeoning organized crime syndicate and local politicians in order to circumvent the newly passed federal law outlawing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. The characters range from the powerful (real-life mob figures Lucky Luciano and Arnold Rothstein) to the everyday populace (a pair of drivers, one of whom is a young Al Capone, and a lower-class member of the Women's Temperance League) as well as Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden, a federal agent seeking to nip a criminal empire in the bud. All of which is certainly familiar territory for the show's creators, Martin Scorsese, who directed the pilot and Soprano's writer/producer Terence Winter.
This episode definitely feels like a Scorsese film. Subject matter aside, Scorsese leaves his stamp all over this episode. Everything from the sweeping overhead crowd shots (very reminiscent of Gangs of New York) to the flashback structure (Goodfellas) to the freeze-frame/action cuts and the old-fashioned silent film lens opening at the beginning and end of the episode. And while the episode displays a few of the weaker points of any pilot episode (some clunky expository dialogue, mostly), Scorsese displays his usual skill for balancing strong character work with excellent pacing and a meticulous attention to period detail. This easily rivals Deadwood and Rome as one of the best looking HBO shows I've seen (although for some reason they're going with CGI bullet hits, which still manage to look fake despite the insane budget this show has. I do not understand why no one seems to use practical bullet hits anymore).
Unsurprisingly, the cast is really great too. It may seem typical to see Steve Buscemi playing a criminal at this point, but his character of Nucky Thompson is actually a bit different than what we normally see from him. Whereas Buscemi generally plays jumpy, short-tempered snakes (Reservior Dogs and Fargo) or total psychos (Con Air and The Sopranos), here he seems more a man trapped by circumstance, wary of becoming a full-blown criminal, but too savvy not to make money when it's there to be made. It's an interesting move on the part of the show, giving a lead role to someone known strictly as a character actor (albeit a great one), but Buscemi displays enough layers in the first episode to make me believe he can pull it off. My favorite bit was the "Jesus-what-did-I-do" look on his face as his mistress is screaming at him from the bathroom while he's trying to have a phone conversation.
Other standouts so far include Stephen Graham as the affably violent Al Capone (although Graham, at 37 is a bit old to be playing a 21 year old Capone) and Michael Stuhlbarg as the super smooth Arnold Rothstein, who proves himself a worthy opponent by deftly outsmarting Nucky by the end of the first episode. Both Michael Shannon (as the fire and brimstone federal agent) and Michael Kenneth Williams (I don't know who he plays in the show, but he was Omar in The Wire and that's all I need to know) only appear briefly in this episode, but based on their past work, I'm expecting great things from both of them. The only reservation I feel is toward Michael Pitt (goddamn, did they only hire people named Michael for this show?) as Jimmy Darmody. Although the character has tons of potential (at age 23, he's Princeton educated, a hardened WWI vet, a father and a mob driver/enforcer), Pitt's delivery is a bit stiff and one-note in this episode. He's got great presence when he's lurking behind Nucky or looking at someone like he's going to kill them, but he pales in comparison to most of the other actors. Hopefully, he'll find a groove as the show goes on.
I hope to find my groove as well, since I've never reviewed anything on a weekly basis before, I'll try to have the reviews up on Monday or Tuesday every week (the show airs on Sundays), and I'll try too keep the spoilers light (but no promises, you should just watch the show). It's good to have you back HBO. See you next week.
UP NEXT: Back over on movies, I've got a pair of British crime thrillers coming up: 1984's The Hit starring John Hurt and Tim Roth, and 2009's Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine.
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