A new channel? That's showing high quality drama from across the pond? Including brand new Mad Men? I was excited. HBO, king of the TV box set, has teamed up with Sky to launch new channel, Sky Atlantic. The 'stories' began on 1st February with a drama which has already won awards and much critical acclaim in the States, Martin Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire. The man with the weird face, Steve Buscemi, takes the title role as Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson, corrupt treasurer of Atlantic City. It's the 1920s and prohibition has just begun but Buscemi and his cronies are on a mission to keep Atlantic City 'wet', raking in the profits. Good story, eh? So was it any good? Em...
It'd be difficult to make a drama set in the 1920s and have it looking shit. Predictably, it's stylish, the costumes are gorgeous, the colour pallet has an almost sepia tone and the Atlantic City boardwalk is like a bizarre side-show where even premature babies are an attraction. The characters have obviously a long way to go, this being episode one, and Nucky is intriguing. Although he's crooked, he has his limits and doesn't seem himself to be a violent man. His relationship with Margaret Shroeder, a young, vulnerable woman is sure to develop and hopefully we'll see more depth to her character, as the cast seems to be a bit of a boys club at the moment with the women playing in much lesser roles. Michael Pitt (Henry off Dawson's Creek) has emerged as an early favourite of mine as his character, Jimmy, has just returned from the tranches and clearly has some issues that will no doubt bubble up as the series progresses. Another character I'm looking forward to seeing more of is the notorious Al Capone played by our own Stephen Graham (Combo off This Is England). At the time, Capone is young, his life of crime is just beginning and Graham is enigmatic as ever in his performance.
There were a couple of things that interfered with my viewing experience. The first thing is totally my own fault as the zeitgeist of my childhood bares a lot of influence on my adult brain, and it is Bugsy Malone. Yes, I said BUGSY MALONE; it's my automatic reference point to the '20s, sorry. Take the scene in the woods, it reminded me of the Bugsy Malone scene in the woods, remember? With Looney Bergonzi? THE Looney Bergonzi? Anyway, I'm thinking, uh-oh! These guys are getting SPLURGED! Shit! That guys got a hole in his face! And the scene towards the end where the guy puts on his gramophone and he's defo getting SPLURGED! Oh shit, yeah, his head's all on the gramophone. So what I'm trying to say is that the violence shocked me, as it was brains instead of cream. So anyway, my second beef is with the adverts. Too many adverts disrupting the flow of the programme; one minute we're watching Nucky head up to meet other city officials for dinner, the next Gerard Butler's telling me about his face, and now Nucky's sitting down to dinner. FFS. So it turns out the only way to watch it is to Sky+ it and fast forward through the ads, a little better but still a pain in the arse.
It seems Boardwalk Empire is a bit of a slow burner by all accounts. My verdict? S'alright.
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