It is Sunday night and President’s Day is tomorrow, Monday February 20th. Then, it’s back to work on Tuesday for those of you who will enjoy the day off on Monday. Speaking of work, I caught the HBO series Luck tonight. The 4th episode. Maybe this episode should have had an alternate title. I figure ‘Work’ seem to capture the essence of this episode. It not only seemed to fit better, but there was a decided lack of Luck tonight.
From the top of the cast down to the lesser and or newer players, everyone was toiling.
Chester ‘Ace’ Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) went to work on his old nemesis – a mob boss named Mike (Michael Gambon). Bernstein once did time in the penitentiary rather than rolling over on Mike and his associates on a drug possession charge. Now Bernstein is focusing on his scheme which has revenge written all over it.
l to r: Dustin Hoffman as 'Ace Bernstein', Michael Gambon as 'Mike'
At the same time, Bernstein hires one guy, a market hot shot called Nathan Israel (Patrick J. Adams). We don’t know how – but Israel is going to help sink the hook even deeper into Mike. But Bernstein has also caught the eye of Claire Lachay (Joan Allen) who seems to be running a charitable organization which helps older horses stay out of the glue factory and employs ex-cons. We haven’t seen the evidence, but Lachay may not be all that she says she is. In any event she’s planted her hook into Bernstein.
l to r: Joan Allen as 'Claire Lachay'; Patrick Adams as 'Nathan Israel'
Due to the broken collar bone suffered in a fall off a horse, Jockey Ronnie Jenkins (Gary Stevens), now is unable to ride, so he spends his time get stoned and drunk. His agent, Joey Rathburn (Richard Kind) now has no jocks in play. Jenkins can’t ride, and his other jockey, Leon ‘The Bug Boy’ Micheaux (Tom Payne), is having trouble keeping his weight down. So he has to run his ass off to get his weight down by putting in mile after mile of roadwork.
Nick Nolte as Trainer Walter Smith
Trainer Walter Smith (Nick Nolte) now has to employ the young female jockey Rosie (Kerry Condon) to ride his tremendous but unseasoned two year old colt Getting Up. Rosie has her work cut out for her as in her first race on the track and her first ride for Smith, she and Getting Up break very slowly out of the gate, and so she and the young horse immediately trail the field by six lengths. So she’ll need to work the horse to get back into contention. Smith works hard rooting for his horse. The camera placements and editing while Smith was rooting his horse were just a great instance of camera work, editing, and directorial choices.
Kerry Condon as Rosie aboard Getting Up
Our betting syndicate (Lonnie, Marcus, and Renzo) are horrified to find out that their 4th associate, Jerry (Jason Gedrick), has let his gambling ‘jones’ get the best of him. He’s gotten into a private cash poker game in Chinatown. He’s playing against Leo Chan (Dennis Dun) who has consistently beaten him in the poker club, and has now taunted Jerry into a one-on-one game with a $100,000 buy-in. Jerry’s work has just gotten a whole lot tougher.
I’ve got to tell you, that I’m hooked by this series. Four episodes in, and four to go. The series has already been extended into a second season. By the way tonight’s episode was directed by Phillip Noyce. If that name seems familiar, Mr. Noyce has worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, and has a number of fine film credits on his resume – Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger both with Harrison Ford, The Bone Collector with Denzel Washington, and Salt with Angelina Jolie.
So it is rather easy to say, as well as pleasing to say that I enjoyed his work in this episode. But that doesn’t tell us enough. The Series now has gone beyond leaving us in the dark. We now have a firm grip on the various story threads. Not all has been revealed. But the complexities of the story are not totally shrouded in mystery.
Jill Hennessey as 'Jo'
Jill Hennessey’s Jo and John Ortiz’s Turo Escalante are showing more than just a working relationship.
Rosie prayed aloud for God’s help in bringing her back safely from her first race – and now she and Leon Micheaux found a new and unexpected way to celebrate. Hoffman’s external ice has started to melt over Joan Allen’s Claire.
But for every nuanced victory – someone else must pay a price – like Jenkins free-fall into drugs and alcohol are the counter-point to Rosie’s suddenly upwardly mobile career.
Walter Smith as played by Nick Nolte continues to attract us with his everyman look that is shrouded in sadness and sensitivity while his horse Getting Up shows signs of being a superstar.
In short, there’s much to love about this series. Returning to my overriding theme of this piece – about how they should have called this episode ‘Work’ – finally, via this episode, whatever work that you and I have done as viewers, has paid off and has given us a positive return on our investment. This time, the ‘work’ that we’ve put in has resulted in some great joy.
Trailer:
