It was by accident I came to hear about this new Cable network (Starz) series, during an interview of the series lead man Jeffrey Dean Morgan. After watching the first three episodes, I started to form an opinion about the series. As premature as this limited viewing (3 episodes) may be to form an opinion, I will, if in the course of the first season my opinion changes, edit or update my review accordingly.
Alex Rocco is Arthur, the retired patriarch of the Evans family and proud father to Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the (lead) role of Ike Evans, the owner of Miami's swankiest hotel, Olga Kurylenko in the role of Ike's current wife Vera, Christian Cooke, Steven Strait and Taylor Blackwell, as the sons Danny and Stevie and daughter Lauren; then you have Danny Huston in the role of mob boss Ben Diamond, Jessica Marais as his wife Lily and finally Michael Rispoli as Bel Jaffe. Nine of the thirteen regulars of the series' first season (second season has been announced already). The story takes place in the late fifties; Read IMDb's full storyline to get the gist of the series' action.
Ike Evans is a determined man who has many problems to juggle, one of which is that his private and not all that silent partner/banker Ben Diamond makes no secret that he wants to control Ike's family business for a variety of reasons. A second, we can already tell is going to wreck havoc, is that his son Stevie is having a liaison with Ben Diamond's wife. The mostly non Cuban employees of the hotel want to unionize and the loyal Cuban employees are very affected by the revolutionary goings-on in their native homeland. Bel Jaffe played by Michael Rispoli (of fame 'Sopranos' series) is an employee and right hand man to Ike. Ben Diamond is played by actual movie industry family dynasty Danny Huston, and he's a cool cookie, very interesting character. Olga Kurylenko (Hitman & Quantum of Solace), Ike's young devoted and very sexy wife was a fine choice to spice up the series; it appears the creator/producer Mitch Glazer is going for a very eye pleasing production, accentuating sexiness and suspense and minimal overt violence. There is plenty of violence but it is not graphic, we see a little bit of it while the bulk of it is implied by use of shots and scenes depicting the results or aftermath. Bodies and wrecks at the bottom of the Bay let our imagination fill in the 'how'; I prefer that to graphic violence and it will set this series apart from others which the producers are wise enough not to compete with head on.
J.D. Morgan has the experience (movies and series) to fill that lead role and certainly the charisma to add new fans to his already growing base (good for Magic City). I hope the writers will come up with more of what I've seen so far, and not mess up what seems to have the potential to be a good series. I'd rather see two very good seasons cap instead of any weak longer run. It won't beat 'Breaking Bad's four outstanding seasons nor the first (of the two) season of 'Boardwalk Empire' but is set to find a new audience and provide a choice some may be wanting; I suspect many fans of those two series will also like Magic City.
Alex Rocco is Arthur, the retired patriarch of the Evans family and proud father to Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the (lead) role of Ike Evans, the owner of Miami's swankiest hotel, Olga Kurylenko in the role of Ike's current wife Vera, Christian Cooke, Steven Strait and Taylor Blackwell, as the sons Danny and Stevie and daughter Lauren; then you have Danny Huston in the role of mob boss Ben Diamond, Jessica Marais as his wife Lily and finally Michael Rispoli as Bel Jaffe. Nine of the thirteen regulars of the series' first season (second season has been announced already). The story takes place in the late fifties; Read IMDb's full storyline to get the gist of the series' action.
Ike Evans is a determined man who has many problems to juggle, one of which is that his private and not all that silent partner/banker Ben Diamond makes no secret that he wants to control Ike's family business for a variety of reasons. A second, we can already tell is going to wreck havoc, is that his son Stevie is having a liaison with Ben Diamond's wife. The mostly non Cuban employees of the hotel want to unionize and the loyal Cuban employees are very affected by the revolutionary goings-on in their native homeland. Bel Jaffe played by Michael Rispoli (of fame 'Sopranos' series) is an employee and right hand man to Ike. Ben Diamond is played by actual movie industry family dynasty Danny Huston, and he's a cool cookie, very interesting character. Olga Kurylenko (Hitman & Quantum of Solace), Ike's young devoted and very sexy wife was a fine choice to spice up the series; it appears the creator/producer Mitch Glazer is going for a very eye pleasing production, accentuating sexiness and suspense and minimal overt violence. There is plenty of violence but it is not graphic, we see a little bit of it while the bulk of it is implied by use of shots and scenes depicting the results or aftermath. Bodies and wrecks at the bottom of the Bay let our imagination fill in the 'how'; I prefer that to graphic violence and it will set this series apart from others which the producers are wise enough not to compete with head on.
J.D. Morgan has the experience (movies and series) to fill that lead role and certainly the charisma to add new fans to his already growing base (good for Magic City). I hope the writers will come up with more of what I've seen so far, and not mess up what seems to have the potential to be a good series. I'd rather see two very good seasons cap instead of any weak longer run. It won't beat 'Breaking Bad's four outstanding seasons nor the first (of the two) season of 'Boardwalk Empire' but is set to find a new audience and provide a choice some may be wanting; I suspect many fans of those two series will also like Magic City.