THE FIRM
JANUARY 8, 2012
John Grisham's breakout novel, "The Firm" has been in the spotlight longer than the length of time that lapsed before it was picked up as a TV show. Twenty years after the first publishing, with a box office smash film released in 1993, the characters have been in hiding through the witness protection program for 10 years.
Emerging from their government established identities as their safety is no longer in jeopardy, the family begins to re-establish their lives without the fear of being killed by the mob boss Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucus), who was sent to prison ten years earlier. Now that the mob boss has died, the McDeere family begins to rest easy but it has come to Mitch's attention that the son may now be taking up the quest to destroy his family.
The cast has strength not so much in numbers but in the ladder that brought them together for this series. Molly Parker, who plays Abby McDeere, has been kicking around television for quite some time, playing subtle characters with passion and grace. The HBO series "Deadwood" had Parker playing Alma Garret who was a rare character that was not based on a real life person. She gave Alma a strength most women did not have in those early days, but Parker played her close to the vest. The foolishly canceled CBS show of "Swingtown" was one of our favorites with a concept way before its time. Parker (Susan Miller), along with Grant Snow (Tom Decker) and Lana Parrilla (Trina Decker), gave substance to a theme that was rarely spoke aloud about in the 70's by the upper class. Yet, this was not as rare as people think it was as 100's of thousands took part in the swing lifestyle during that period. Parker played Susan with a quiet demeanor who was resistant of the new surroundings and lifestyle of those in the suburban area. Her versatility in choosing characters has allowed Parker to grow within her craft and bring a wide range to Abby McDeere.
Juliet Lewis, playing the outspoken newly created character Tammy Hemphill, could have been spawned from "Welcome Back Kotter's" Rosalie "Hotsie Totsie". Her outgoing sexual appeal along with her lack of an internal edit button speaks fluently what she thinks. She is in a relationship with Mitch's brother, Ray McDeere, played by Callum Keith Rennie Hemphillis, and they are the new millennium version of Della Street (Barbara Hale) and Paul Drake (William Hopper) of the 50-60's hit show "Perry Mason", but without the sexual tension. This rounds out the cast along with two recurring characters Alex Clark (Tricia Helfer) and Andrew Palmer (Shaun Majumder), which, as an ensemble cast, along with progressively good writing, should grip the viewers' need for more.
The show does have some glitches with the movie and book endings, as the creator of the TV series, Lukas Reiter, had to do a bit of manipulating to extend the life of the characters. In doing so, Reiter, along with the writers Alyson Feltes, Peter Noah, David Feige, William Rotko, Vincent Angell, Jonathan Sapiro, Jamie Gorenberg and Ben Lee, have a montage of story-lines open to keep the audience enthralled throughout season one.
RUSTY
1/8/12
