In keeping with the habit of reviewing things sporadically, randomly and pretty much whenever I damn well pleasedly, I'm now going to review a TV show... but a great one that you really should check out.
Men of a Certain Age. It's on TNT. They know drama... No kidding.
I don't think I can give any amount of justice in explaining this show to anyone. There's a certain tone as well as a certain remarkable sensibility to it that you can't quite put your finger on. Everything from the camera direction to the performances evokes a sense of empathic cinematic quality that makes you understand how everyone involved is feeling at that moment. The camera will focus on little things that seem unimportant, but are actually very telling.
But now I'm just dissecting... Which is not really what this show is about. This show is about people. It's about a struggle that people go through at a certain time in their life, how these people relate to the world around them. They're not young, but they're not exactly old. They're middle-aged, and they're going to show you that they've still got life left in them.
Our series regulars are Joe, Terry and Owen who are 40-something best friends since college that hang out regularly at a diner to talk about life, love and all the crap that comes with getting older. Joe (Ray Romano) owns a party store, aided by incompetent staff, both young and old. He is also divorced and has two children that he shares custody of. Terry (Scott Bakula) is an often single, out-of-work actor who never really made it in the business and is an incorrigible lady's man. Owen (Andre Braugher) is the son of a successful basketball player-turned-car dealership owner with the unique challenge of trying to live up to his father's expectations. He also has a wife and two kids that he loves dearly.
On paper, this idea sounds trite and overbearing in trying to rope in a certain kind of audience, but in watching the show, it becomes clear that these are just three very interesting leads whose lives you feel invested in. Each of them has their own set of unique problems that is handled with a great amount of care as you see them try to rise above their weaknesses and become the men they are deep inside. It becomes less about middle-aged men living as they've always lived and more about a 2nd coming of age tale. These men still have growing up to do and it's fun to watch them deal with it.
Ray Romano is hilarious here. I never really watched Everybody Loves Raymond, but with a title like that, can you really blame me? Ray Romano co-created this show with Mike Royce. It's surprising that Ray Romano created this show as it's not an endless laugh fest. It's a sometimes dramatic and painful experience watching this show sometimes, but it really makes the characters seem real, like they could be your mother, father, uncle or your own next-door neighbor. The writing is executed in a way that makes it able to relate to anyone (I'll put the age demographic from 20-80, though, just to be safe).
I'm a huge fan of Scott Bakula because of Quantum Leap, so whenever I hear that he's in some kind of project, I run over to it just in case it's something I might like. Good old Scott, he's likeable in pretty much anything he appears in (probably because he's a genuinely nice guy in real life), and he's just as likeable here, even if he is a bit of a womanizer. He's sweet and surprisingly sensitive at times, making you sympathize with his character.
Andre Braugher, who plays Owen, seems familiar, but I'm not really sure what I've seen him in before. However, his character has an amazing strength to him. He's soft-spoken most of the time and a deeply reasonable man just wanting to get his fair dues. He has a bit of a temper at times and a bit of a pessimistic side, but possessing an underlying gentle side as well. I think if there's one character I've rooted for most in this show, it's Owen.
I know I'm speaking in abstracts here, but I don't like spoiling shows or movies for people. I urge people to go out and watch movies/shows on their own and then come back and tell me what they like or don't like about them. If you've already seen the show, post your love for the show!
The 2nd half of the 2nd season just started up a week ago, so now's the time to get started! Definitely start with the 1st season, if you can.
My next review will probably be a movie of some kind. After that SHOULD BE the conclusion of Back to the Future: The Game as Part 5 is coming out at the end of this month.
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