Sometimes as an actor you can peak with your first part. Look no further than Timothy Hutton, whose first film role (in Ordinary People) won him an Oscar and a Golden Globe. From there it was all downhill in terms of fame but as an actor he’s actually improved and honed his craft over the years. And TNT has him at the forefront of their latest hit series, Leverage.
Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, an insurance adjuster who has been wronged. When his child dies because of malfeasance by an insurance company, he takes it upon himself to wreck vengeance upon those who have wronged him in the name of justice. A Robin Hood of sorts, he’s in charge of a team of crooks he busted and has a drinking problem that surfaces from time to time.
Eliot (Christian Kane) is the muscle, a master of hand to hand combat. He’s originally from the South and eschews firearms.
Sophie (Gina Bellman) is the con artist of the group, the one who makes the introductions and is usually the face of the operation. There’s a running gag in the film where her ventures into professional acting are laughably bad and her acting during a con is masterful.
Parker (Beth Riesgraf) is the burglar of the group, a cat burglar of the highest order in love with money. She’s also a bit of an adrenaline junkie.
Hardison (Aldis Hodge) is the computer specialist and the team’s resident techie. He’s also into some very nerdy hobbies like playing World of Warcraft.
And despite lower then expected ratings, the series was given a second season. Leverage is a good series but repeats itself ad nauseam in how it presents its cons. The show leverages itself, no pun intended, on deception. Each episode follows a pretty strict formula in that someone is wronged, and then the team engages in a con to right the wrong. It goes well but a complication will arise, it gets overcome and in the end justice is done. The problem is that the show uses the Deus ex Machina approach to story-telling, using it significantly and often as a cheat to get the happy ending the show requires.
The show doesn’t do much in terms of building long term storylines, as well. This is really a series of self contained episodes that don’t require watching en masse to get into. Outside of the pilot, which contains the requisite exposition needed to understand the point of the series, you can watch each episode and not feel lost because this really isn’t true episodic television. There are some moments that build from each show on, but not enough to sustain any semblance of long term storytelling.
That isn’t to say the show isn’t entertaining. This is a talented cast that works well together, with Hutton rightly the dominant actor and in charge, but the show has enough limitations and doesn’t stray outside of its formula that it isn’t the strongest of shows. It turns out to be a real hindrance because outside of the adherence to formula it’s really well done; the show has enough character building moments to keep it interesting but there isn’t any sort of long term arch to build the series around. It’s just a series of missions that don’t have a long term goal; there’s no villain or evil organization. It makes for an interesting series, as it’s never boring, but it doesn’t have a long term plan to it. Itâ’s a great setup, and maybe over the next season there will be some more long term planning, but right now the show is going for more of a CSI vibe (except with crooks) then anything else. It’ll probably take a while, but the show hasn’t quite found its groove yet.
Leverage has all the potential to be a great show, but hasn’t quite found that stride yet.
Presented in a widescreen format with a Dolby Digital sound, the series looks great. This is a show with a lot of color and interesting scenery, as well as some solid music, and it comes through wonderfully.
There is a Commentary Track on each episode, as well as Deleted Scenes for most.
Leverage behind the scenes is a featurette that focuses on the show’s origins. Wanting to make a fun heist film like those in the ’70s, it’s interesting to hear the cast talking about they feel it’s closer to being The A-Team then to a film like Ocean’s 11. It is interesting to see that they brought in an actual thief (Apollo Robbins) as a technical consultant, who taught the cast various things about crime from the simple wallet swipe to various long form crime schemes that make up the show’s dynamic.
Several shorter features are attached as well. Anatomy of a stunt fight is some behind the scenes footage focusing on some of the fight scenes in the series. The cameras of Leverage focuses on the camera work, and cameramen, of the series. Leverage gets renewed is another short piece where the cast finds out the show has been renewed for another season. It is interesting how they all got together using technology, as half the cast was outside of Los Angeles and various computers were used and connected to get everyone in the same place at the same time. Beth Riesgraf’s crazy actress spoof is an attempt at a comedic piece where Riesgraf where she acts like a crazy actress with the writing staff.
With more going for it then most shows, Leverage is entertaining but is just starting to develop itself as a series. It’s good enough to watch and see the beginnings, as there’s definitely an air that greatness is about to happen. It just hasn’t happened yet.
Paramount presents Leverage: The First Season. Created by John Rogers and Chris Downey. Starring Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge. Running time: 584 minutes. Not Rated. Released on DVD: July 14, 2009. Available at Amazon.
