I found your new TV obsession: 'Briarpatch'
No Content for Old Men
with Matt Craig
In this week's newsletter: TV takes the primary spot for the first time, with a gushing review of the new drama on USA, Briarpatch, written by one of my favorite podcasters. Then a few words on the new star-studded Guy Ritchie romp The Gentlemen. And lastly a tribute to Kobe Bryant in this week's "Trailer Watch," featuring his 2017 Oscar-winning short "Dear Basketball." As always, zero spoilers!
Word Count: 742 words
Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes
Briarpatch
The tastemaker becomes just, well, the maker
Sitting in the audience at Neuehouse Hollywood on Tuesday night, prior to the premiere of the pilot for USA's new drama "Briarpatch," I couldn't help but feel like everyone in the room was jealous of creator Andy Greenwald. Here he was about to cross journalism's ultimate rubicon, becoming a living counterpoint to the (mostly true) accusation that one only joins the ranks of the media once they realize they cannot themselves be the talent -- an athlete, actor, filmmaker, CEO, politician and the like.
Greenwald took the stage in front of both young entertainment industry professionals hoping to one day run their own show, and listeners to his long-running podcast "The Watch" hoping to one day draw such an audience to a live recording. Both groups cheer him on. Somehow, on this night, he has melded church and state.
From his established position at or near the top of the television criticism profession over the past decade, it seems inconceivable that Greenwald would first surrender that status to pursue the pipe dream of creating his own television show, and then even more shocking that the show would actually materialize in a relatively short amount of time.
Yet here it is, Briarpatch, a 10-part adaptation of the 1984 crime novel by Ross Thomas. In it, an investigator returns to his small, dusty hometown in Texas to solve the mystery of her sister's murder, extracting truth from a host of eccentric surrounding characters.
As a long time consumer (both through his writing and the podcast) of Greenwald's thoughts and opinions, it was almost surreal to experience a TV show written by someone who has profoundly shaped the way I watch and thing about TV. I want to make sure I give full disclosure there, because so many elements of this show feel like they were created exactly for me.
Noir is my favorite genre, and this story stands on the shoulders of all those Humphrey Bogart classics. There's snappy dialogue, a femme fatale, crooks and cops and shadowy meetings and for goodness sake the premise of the whole show is investigating the murder of a young girl!
As with any good noir, characters enter the narrative as outsized tropes ready to be slowly dissected as the plot twists and turns. It's a mystery box show, to be sure, but it's infused with so much humor. My favorite filmmakers are the Coen Brothers, and there's so much Blood Simple and Barton Fink in the writing of the pilot episode that following along was like tequila on the lips of an alcoholic.
Much of the show's tone was set by the changes Greenwald made to the original source text. The protagonist was rewritten from a white man into a woman of color, built around the powerhouse presence of Rosario Dawson. In the TV version Greenwald added a zoo break-out, which heightens both the ridiculousness and unpredictability of the setting. Dialogue is heightened as well, as in one joke where a grizzled newspaper reporter says the burned down sugar factory had "caramelized" an entire city block.
The show's aesthetic, meanwhile, trades the brutal naturalism of the Coens' for the slightly pulpy playfulness of like a Tony Scott or Quentin Tarintino. Primary colors and highly kinetic camera movements update the genre and give it a much-needed jolt of energy, creating the type of fictional world that's exaggerated for effect. Think Pulp Fiction, but 2020.
Needless to say, the hour-long pilot episode flew by. And the surest sign of the show's success across the entire season is its confidence in not revealing major characters -- played by recognizable actors like Kim Dickens and Alan Cummings! -- even once in the pilot.
After the screening, Dickens and Jay R. Ferguson (who plays a corrupt Texas millionaire) joined Greenwald and podcast cohost Chris Ryan on stage for the usual Hollywood back-patting. Sam Esmail, the acclaimed creator of Mr. Robot and also an executive producer on this show, joined the panel too for what was mostly a coronation of Greenwald as show runner. On its face, the praise amounts to nothing more than promotion, but the very public nature of the support at least forecasts a positive response.
Regardless, if you've ever trusted me for movies and television recommendations, EVER, then you must give this show a try when its pilot airs on Februrary 6th on USA. I think I may have just found your next TV obsession.
The Gentlemen
What happens to a legitimately talented filmmaker once they emerge from big budget franchise IP purgatory? Let's ask Rian Johnson, who blew us away and earned an Oscar nom for Knives Out after the last Star Wars. Or in this case Guy Ritchie, who has surfaced after spending the last four years stuck under the weight of a very bad King Arthur movie and the "live action" Aladdin remake. With this movie he's returned to his roots: bloody, foul-mouthed British movies that are super fun (a la Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
Honestly, my expectations were rather low, considering this movie has been on ice for an extended period of time while the Miramax name rehabilitated post-Weinstein, and the decision to release it in the doldrums of January.
I got way more than I bargained for, thanks to a star-studded cast turned all the way up to 11. Set in a modern world of plaid-clad gangsters with thick cockney accents and a surplus of manners, Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant and Colin Farrell play such exaggerated characters you can't help but laugh. It's obvious everyone making this movie had fun, especially Farrell, who is an early nominee for funniest performance of the year. Using the narration of a fictional screenplay as a spine, it builds and diverts on the most familiar gangster movie tropes. Moment to moment it often lacks motivation, but it's fast-paced and jaunty with so many plot twists it's almost impossible to follow until one final domino falls into place for a perfect ending. Not really an event movie, but even if you wait until on-demand you'll want to make time for this pulpy thrillride.
Rest in Peace, Mamba
In a lot of ways, the news of Kobe Bryant's death feels like the only thing that really matters this week. The loss hit me really hard in a way I found very unexpected. So I wanted to repost here what I wrote on Instagram after visiting one of Kobe's murals and seeing the memorials people were leaving to him, since I know many who subscribe to this newsletter do not follow me over there. Since the below photo was taken (Monday morning), the sticky notes left by mourners had covered pretty much the entire wall.
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to be.”
That Kobe quote on a tiny cardboard sign in the corner of this memorial by his mural helped me finally understand why I’ve been so torn up by yesterday’s news. He was an imperfect man, one I really never rooted for, but he inspired all of us to go after our passions with every single fiber of our being. Knowing he and his daughter still had dreams and passions they were going after and will never reach breaks my heart. He will never grow old, she will never grow up. Damn, that sucks. But it’s a reminder to us, to seize every single day and love those around us with everything we got!
Trailer Watch: Dear Basketball
By the time you get this email, the video I linked to might have been pulled down off the internet due to copyright infringement. If so, do yourself a favor and go find a newer pirated version of the 2017 short film "Dear Basketball," written and narrated by Kobe. Aided by incredible illustrations and the genius music stylings of John Williams (yes, THAT John Williams, the 52-time Oscar nominee), Kobe won an Oscar for Best Short at the 2017 Academy Awards. The poem takes on special resonance now. And if you've never seen it, grab some tissues before you hit the link.