Rating: 7.5/10
Quick & Nasty: I'd actually give this a higher rating (like an 8 or 8.5) for about 80% of the movie. It's well-acted, the picture is shot in such a clean way it just makes you want to drink from the storyline. The dialogue's great (except for a contrived moment where they just. had. to. get. the. title. into. the. movie) and the pace of the movie was just right (until the last few closing scenes). I think it's a great movie - just don't expect very much from the ending. I think it ended well, and I like how it was left hanging, but the pace at the end was just terrible. It's like spending 70 minutes on foreplay only to have the actual act finish in 2 minutes. Goddammit. Pace yourself.
Review
I think I'm in love with Ryan Vigilant.
He seems like the kind of white trash you could bring home to mommy because he'd flash her these deceptive puppy dog eyes and she'd go weak in the knees and pretend like she don't know he's bad for you. I like how he's the dysfunctional one with the power, but as the plot unwinds - you map out his insecurities, his desire for just another person to be there to bear witness that he exists. And to have that reversed and him watching as his mother writes the end of her chapter in a rather magnificent way... mmm. how delicious is this plot?
What I don't get is this necessity to talk about the affair with the senator. It's this weird plot device that does nothing for the entirety of the show. Like earlobes on a dog. What's with that? I've given it all of 30 seconds of my attention and I think I've stumbled on the answer: it was hastily written in because they cast a beautiful actress as his sister and they obviously don't look alike at all (or don't even look like they're the same race). But is that really necessary? Okay, to be honest, the casting would've worked a little better if they had switched it around and he played the groundskeeper / opportunistic writer / pool boy who grew fond of the dying mother and was keeping her company. Then, with the old man's photo at his bedside, you could almost read Ryan Vigilant as a baby-face Matt Bomer. And his puppy love interest, Benjamin Weaver (delicious as well) would've rounded out the family quite well.
Anyway, that wasn't much of a review, but I do like this show a lot. It was very authentic, and I did like all the characters in the end. If only they spent a bit more time on the ending, this would've been a real masterpiece.
Oh yes, I would give up on Max Riemelt for you, Ryan Vigilant.
