In a summer filled with the usual blockbuster flops, TV
miniseries provide a welcome alternative. Showtime’s
Masters of
Sex dramatizes the revolutionary research into taboo sexuality
in the 1950s by Dr. William Masters and his assistant, Virginia
Johnson. Michael Sheen, best known for portraying Prime Minister
Tony Blair in The Queen and journalist David Frost in
Frost/Nixon, sheds his Welsh- English accent to convincingly
portray the austere sexual pioneer.
Lizzy Caplan skillfully
handles a complex portrayal of a woman in love with her boss,
but who is respectful of his marriage. The tenor of those times,
when even the mention of sex brought hushed tones, is aptly
depicted. A supporting cast—headed by Beau Bridges as Masters’s
prudish boss at his St. Louis hospital—helps paint a portrait of
a dedicated scientist decades ahead of his time.
HBO’s acclaimed
Boardwalk Empire returns for its fourth season. Nucky Thompson,
played by sad-faced Steve Buscemi, has survived an attempted
overthrow by Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale) and managed to hold
on to his criminal empire. The 1920s set piece dramatizes real
events involving infamous Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Al Capone,
Joe Masseria, Johnny Torrio, and even Eddie Cantor, one of the
big musical stars of that era. Buscemi, an enduring character
actor, commands the milieu— and the small screen.
At times the
show goes overboard with a chiaroscuro look of profi les—I get
it. The lighting back then was dim, but it can be a visual
strain. But the mood continues to be somber and stark, with
sudden bursts of violence, appropriate given the genre. As is to
be expected on a pay cable outlet, some of the scenes are too
graphic for some tastes, but the style is slow and deliberately
paced, as if the characters are thinking before they speak. All
well and good for this deeply absorbing series. Welcome back!
A
Single Shot is a deeply absorbing drama set in the rugged hills
of West Virginia that stars Sam Rockwell, one of Hollywood’s
most dependable actors. He plays a hunter living in a ramshackle
home deep in the woods who’s estranged from his wife and young
son. Without giving away the pivotal event of the story, I’ll
say only that a single shot from his hunting rifle sets off a
chain of shocking events that change his life forever. This is a
movie heavy on atmosphere, with some of the mountain dialect
occasionally diffi cult to understand, which only adds to the
authentic look of the story.
William H. Macy co-stars as a
physically challenged town lawyer, wearing a horrible toupee and
a tacky jacket that clashes wildly with his tie. He has the
amazing ability to convey a character who knows more than he’s
letting on, just as he did so memorably in Fargo. Others in the
cast are unknowns, save Jeffrey Wright, as the mountain man’s
only real friend, and veteran character actor Ted Levine as a
farmer who bought the hunter’s family spread. This movie evokes
the same mood as Winter’s Bone, with its a rural community fi
lled with society’s losers. It’s one of the year’s best.
At a
time when Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and other
Republican-controlled states are passing draconian laws
restricting women’s reproductive rights,
After Tiller is more
relevant than ever. The disturbing documentary examines the
aftermath of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few
doctors who performed late-term abortions and who was shot to
death in his church by an anti-abortion fanatic, since sentenced
to a long prison term. One speaker cries out, “God bless the
shooter!” while others rail at this shocking murder. The few
other physicians who bravely continue to perform the procedure
discuss why they’ve vowed to help protect pregnant women’s
constitutionally protected right, no matter how great the
danger. The movie shows several poignant interviews with
distraught women, some of them rape victims determined to
undergo the procedure, aware of the danger their doctors
continue to face. This is a sobering look at an ongoing debate
that has divided this country for four decades.
Don Jon,
written, directed by, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has him
portraying a New Jersey playboy who lives only for dating and
bedding a bevy of beautiful women every night, and for watching
endless Internet porn. His character makes Jersey Shore’s “The
Situation” look like a Rhodes scholar. Co-starring are Scarlett
Johansson as a girl he finally falls for and Julianne Moore as
an attractive (to put it mildly) classmate at an adult education
class. This is a very graphic, fast-paced, hilarious look at a
“deems, dems, and doze” guy who finally realizes there are more
important things in life than instant gratification. Tony Danza
and Glenne Headly as his parents make Archie and Edith Bunker
look like the Kennedys. It’s strictly for adults, but it’s full
of laughs and a little poignancy to boot.
[HS]
