Just saw Frontera on Netflix. Released this past summer without much fanfare, the movie brings to the screen many of the simmering issues presented in The Bridge - on FX for two seasons and now departed. Ed Harris puts in a standout performance as a retired sheriff whose wife is killed, and devotees of Rectify will be happy to see Aden Young (Daniel on Rectify) as Harris's erstwhile deputy and now successor. Also on good hand are Michael Peña (just seen as Mark Solano on Gracepoint) and Eva Longoria.The story has some major twists and surprises, and I won't give any of them away. But I can say that the movie really excels in a variety of intersecting plots that not only include family life on both sides of the border but sharply drawn differences in decency and brutality, intelligence and not so bright, in the the major and minor characters. It's a measure of how well presented a movie is when you can remember minor characters such as an older women who helps a younger woman who's pregnant, and a sheriff's assistant who does the right thing. At the same time, though we think we know the major characters pretty well, our expectations are slapped in ways that keep the story percolating and largely unpredictable - no mean feat in such a well-trodden area.
There was one small part, however, that bothered me, because it presented a conspiracy theory as if it were a matter of confirmed reality. At one point, the people from Mexico being escorted to the United States by a "coyote" spot two in their group in Islamic prayer. A bit later they freak out when they hear them talking Farsi. As far as I know, the idea that political enemies of the U.S. from the Middle East - i.e., would-be terrorists - are entering the U.S. through the Mexican border originates in the over-active imagination of conspiracy theorists and some Republicans in Congress. True or not, this played no role in the movie, and therefore its inclusion in the movie makes no sense - unless the makers of the movie were trying to smuggle in a half-baked political statement.
That said, I would still strongly recommend Frontera, for its great acting and memorable human stories.
Hey, I want to recommend to you Secrets and Lies, an Australian TV mini-series which I just saw on Netflix. The story is very much in the Broadchurch/Gracepoint new tradition - a boy is found murdered, and there's no shortage of suspects, including and especially family members and people who live on the same block. But Secrets and Lies, maybe because of the evocative Australian countryside, but also because of its pacing, has a winning style all its own.
A wild, strange and powerful finale of the first season of The Affair tonight.
An off-pace, unusually quiet, taking-stock finale of the season for Homeland tonight - but one which sets the table for next year.
"This is a dazzling performance. . . .History as science fiction; science fiction as history." - Barry N. Malzberg
I thought the first part of the three-part Ascension was really good, until the very end. I thought the very end of the third part was good, too. And the rest, well, it had its moments, but was largely derivative and predictable. Still, there was enough to enjoy in the entire three-part series to make it worth watching.
Well, The Newsroom gave itself just the kind of send-off we've come to expect: brilliant, touching, touching all kinds of bases including some we didn't know existed, including a great performance of Bobby Bare's "That's How I Got to Memphis," with Will and Jim definitely singing and likely definitely playing guitar (you never know one-hundred percent on television). But it sure sounded nice, and being in a garage right by Charlie's funeral, it was bound to bring not just a smile but a tear to the eye.