Veteran actor Steve Buscemi ("Fargo", "Reservoir Dogs", etc.) here receives another lead role that he can savor: Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, the crooked county treasurer in Atlantic City circa 1920. It's the onset of Prohibition, and yet Nucky has his hands in all sorts of criminal activities, including liquor smuggling. As we see Nucky strike that balance between life as a politician and life as a gangster, his employee Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt, "Seven Psychopaths"), a WWI veteran, is determined to prove his worth within the organization.
We meet such legendary mob figures as Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone in this enjoyable crime saga. It makes sense that Martin Scorsese, one of the executive producers, should be the one to direct this 73 minute pilot, and he gives it real cinematic flair. One can see how much attention was paid to detail: you really do feel like you've been dropped into 1920s America - costumes, sets, vehicles, and everything. (At the time, this was the most expensive pilot ever shot for a TV series.). Scorsese and writer / series creator Terence Winter ('The Sopranos') make this great adult entertainment, never shying away from BRUTAL violence and even including a smattering of nudity.
Buscemi, as always, is a pleasure to watch, but the supporting cast is equally strong: Pitt, Michael Shannon ("The Iceman") as a hard-nosed federal agent, Kelly Macdonald ("No Country for Old Men") as a hard-luck immigrant with an abusive husband, Shea Whigham ("Splinter") as a lawman in Nucky's pocket, Michael Kenneth Williams ('The Wire') as the briefly seen Chalky White, and Dabney Coleman ("Nine to Five") in a nice cameo as Commodore Kaestner.
This pilot is a very effective means of reeling in the viewer and making them interested in continuing with the series.
Nine out of 10.
We meet such legendary mob figures as Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone in this enjoyable crime saga. It makes sense that Martin Scorsese, one of the executive producers, should be the one to direct this 73 minute pilot, and he gives it real cinematic flair. One can see how much attention was paid to detail: you really do feel like you've been dropped into 1920s America - costumes, sets, vehicles, and everything. (At the time, this was the most expensive pilot ever shot for a TV series.). Scorsese and writer / series creator Terence Winter ('The Sopranos') make this great adult entertainment, never shying away from BRUTAL violence and even including a smattering of nudity.
Buscemi, as always, is a pleasure to watch, but the supporting cast is equally strong: Pitt, Michael Shannon ("The Iceman") as a hard-nosed federal agent, Kelly Macdonald ("No Country for Old Men") as a hard-luck immigrant with an abusive husband, Shea Whigham ("Splinter") as a lawman in Nucky's pocket, Michael Kenneth Williams ('The Wire') as the briefly seen Chalky White, and Dabney Coleman ("Nine to Five") in a nice cameo as Commodore Kaestner.
This pilot is a very effective means of reeling in the viewer and making them interested in continuing with the series.
Nine out of 10.