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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I've watched every episode, and I can't really bring myself to care about figuring out all the little complexities. I have loved many shows that have been accused of stringing the viewer along, but I find myself a very patient viewer. I can live with a slow trickle of sometimes maddeningly inconsistent information (like Carnivale, or Lost) because of strong characters, good acting and an interesting subject matter. But JFC has NONE of those things. All it has is psuedo-spiritual wierdness. I can sit down and start to think about what John's monologue means, and you know what? I lose interest? The entire show is one Deus Ex Machina after another, literally! Understanding that John is essentially Jesus or a Jesus like figure doesn't make the show magically good.
I loved Deadwood but my disliking JFC has nothing to do with that. In fact, I can almost see some of where Deadwood was going in it. As Deadwood went on, we got caught up more and more in seemingly inconsequential sideplots that served as a way to get across big IDEAS (the whole subplot with the actors comes to mind), vs the first season where there was more activity and movement. But the show was so solid and the acting so fantastic that you went with it. But Deadwood had to earn our respect in order to go on those tangents, earn it with characters and situations we actually gave a damn about. I gave JFC a real chance, and I might force myself to watch a few more episodes because Milch is certainlly a really talented guy. But its work, and work I find totally unrewarding.
Wouldn't it be Esmeralda bringing the water, which would make the audience Quasimodo?
And by the way: in addition to "The Wire," "Rescue Me" should have been a Best Drama nominee. And "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" kicks the ass of all the other comedies. And no, I don't work for FX.
Today I really feel like a 61 year old grandmother. Reading the show reviews; there is not one I would watch and ever take time to rate. Are we such a small minority that our opinion doesn't matter? I thought we were the powerful baby boomer's? I realize I have generous spendable income, however, it must not rate with the movies and television
Having said this, you should know I went to the theater twice this week with my grandchildren and we saw Harry Potter, and the next day Transformers. Each time it cost me over $50.00 before we went to dinner. That should count for something. Regarding television, I have cable, cost $100. plus a month before purchased movies....a lap top with Verizon broadbandAccess and the Q Motorola cell phone which I hate. As it does not hold a charge long..I use 3-4,000 minutes per month plus my home phone....
That of course is before, you see my other gadgets, GPS in my car etc etc..who am I that what I like doesn't seem to make the awards and who are the people that do?
I can't remember when I read a review of a show that so perfectly mirrored my own reaction. After that last episode I told my wife, "I'm done with John from Cincinnati" nothing makes sense anymore. I'm glad to know a savvy critic had the same reaction I did. I was engaged just enough to keep trying, but episode 3 broke the back. I won't miss it.
Thanks for coming around, H.H. The TV lady at the New Yorker put the choke-slam on JFC over a month ago; for a while, I thought your 'Deadwood'-inspired crush on David Milch was interfering with your judgment.
'John From Cincinnatti' is an embarrassment to all involved. Such a disappointment. I enjoy being proven wrong, but I just don't see it happening. Rebecca DeMornay's shrieking, shivering Cissy is one of the sadder examples of overacting in recent memory. The usually dependable Bruce Greenwood is utterly unlikable as the whiny, narcissistic Mitch. Brian Van Holt--whose previous career high point was a bit part in 'S.W.A.T.'--is just out of his league. Garrett Dillahunt is utterly wasted in a role that makes no sense. The only reason to cast a real-life surfer who can't act like the girl who plays Kai would be if she ever, you know, was seen SURFING on the show, but so far we just get some of the most amateurish line-reading since O. J. Simpson in 'The Naked Gun.' The coked-up poetry major dialogue worked in 'Deadwood' because it was a period piece, but in 'John' it reveals the hand of a writer who has gotten too used to getting his ass kissed. Look at Milch in his interviews and his little clips for HBO, smugly quoting Henry James and rambling on about 'God' and 'urgency'. Are we sure he hasn't fallen off the wagon, or that the toll the years of snorting up foot-long rails of coke and dropping more acid than a VW bus full of Deadheads hasn't left him too impaired to see how bad his show is, or to rein in his hubris? I'd feel sorry for him if he weren't getting rich off of this shit. I do feel sorry for the execs at HBO, who put all of their apples in the wrong cart. Golden child of Richard Yates and Robert Penn Warren, indeed. JFC just seems like a big acid flashback from his lost-weekend phase. I never thought I'd actually look forward to the end of the hour so I could watch Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon mugging on 'Entourage.'
There are only two good things about John From Cincinnatti: Grayson Fletcher--he can't act his way out of a paper bag, but he's a beautiful kid, effortlessly charming and a delight to watch in the water or on his skateboard with that cool spiked helmet--and the theme song, 'Johnny Appleseed,' from the late, great Joe Strummer and his post-Clash/pre-heart failure band, the Mescaleros. May his magnificent soul rest in peace, and may his family get the royalty checks.
P.S.--Jim Beaver, if you're reading this: you were awesome as Ellsworth, my favorite 'Deadwood' character (besides the obvious choice of Al Swearengen). Sorry to have to rip on your new show, but maybe it'll get shit-canned and y'all can go ahead and make that 'Deadwood' finale.
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