"Leverage" The Maltese Falcon Job (2010)

Director:

Dean Devlin

Writers:

John Rogers (creator) &
Chris Downey (creator) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Leverage" (2008)

Original Air Date:

17 February 2010 (Season 2, Episode 15)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

The team is trying to take down a corrupt local mayor, even with the stakes rising to dangerous levels.

Plot Keywords:

Arms Dealer | Shot In The Belly | Running Up Stairs | Handcuffs | Locked Out Of Room

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	Nathan Ford
Gina Bellman	...	Sophie Devereaux
Christian Kane	...	Eliot Spencer
Beth Riesgraf	...	Parker
Aldis Hodge	...	Alec Hardison
Jeri Ryan	...	Tara Cole
Richard Kind	...	Brad Culpepper III
Paul Blackthorne	...	Kadjic
Katie O'Grady	...	Special Agent Amy Nevins
Mark Sheppard	...	Jim Sterling (as Mark A. Sheppard)
Danny Bruno	...	Agent Bob
Jackie Martling	...	Evidence Officer
Harold Phillips	...	Clarence
Lester B. Hanson	...	Ship Captain
Don Brady	...	Security Guard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe Bucaro III	...	Thug #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Dean Devlin

Writing credits
John Rogers		(creator) &
Chris Downey		(creator)
John Rogers		(written by)

Produced by
Jose Behar	....	associate producer
Amy Berg	....	supervising producer
Paul F. Bernard	....	producer
Dean Devlin	....	executive producer
Chris Downey	....	executive producer
Rachel Olschan	....	co-producer
Kearie Peak	....	co-executive producer
John Rogers	....	executive producer
Marc Roskin	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Joseph LoDuca

Cinematography by
David Connell		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Sonny Baskin

Casting by
Scott David
April Webster

Production Design by
Leonard Harman

Set Decoration by
Crista Schneider

Costume Design by
Nadine Haders

Makeup Department
Molly Craytor	....	key makeup artist
Jeff Dawn	....	makeup department head
Stephanie Fajardo	....	hair stylist
Voni Hinkle	....	hair department head
Doreen Vantyne	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Mitchell Bell	....	production supervisor
Paul F. Bernard	....	unit production manager
Ben Raymondjack	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul F. Bernard	....	first assistant director
Alex Hale	....	second assistant director (as Alexandra Hale)
Kyle LeMire	....	second assistant director
Dawnn Pavlonnis	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Cody Bartol	....	set dresser
Eric J. Bates	....	property master (as Eric Bates)
Andy Berry	....	set dresser
Jason Beveridge	....	set dresser
Brady J. Condit	....	on-set dresser
Ken Erck	....	paint foreman
Derek Frederickson	....	graphic animator
Jenelle Giordano	....	buyer
Benjamin Hayden	....	leadman
Bree Judah	....	paint foreman
Beth Lipson	....	art department coordinator
Johanna Lovett	....	buyer
Greg McMickle	....	props
Bekka Melino	....	assistant art director
Michael Earl Menlow	....	carpenter
Adam Reamer	....	set designer
Joe Rynearson	....	set dresser
Alun Vick	....	construction coordinator
Tami Galvin	....	art department production assistant (uncredited)
Geoff Keller	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Lars C. Larsen	....	set dresser (uncredited)
John Pearson-Denning	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Patrick Cyccone Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Patrick Cyccone)
Klair Ethridge	....	boom operator
Mark Hailstone	....	sound editor
Kenneth L. Johnson	....	supervising sound editor
Andrew Garrett Lange	....	sound recordist
Glenn Micallef	....	supervising production sound mixer
Tyler Stephens	....	sound utility
Andrew Garrett Lange	....	adr mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Tyan Bardon	....	special effects foreman
Ken Erck	....	special effects technician
Carly Sertic	....	special effects foreman
Kai Shelton	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Mark Franco	....	visual effects producer
Carey Gosa	....	visual effects production manager
Jennifer Law-Stump	....	compositing supervisor
Peter Vickery	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Jennifer Cobb	....	stunt double: Beth Riesgraf
Kevin L. Jackson	....	stunt coordinator (as Kevin Jackson)
Bill Leaman	....	stunt rigger
Patrick M. Walsh	....	stunt performer
Scott Workman	....	stunt agent
Scott K. Hills	....	stunt player (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Andy Barden	....	lighting technician
Gary L. Camp	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Kyril Cvetkov	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Suzanne Dietz	....	second assistant camera
Brian Fleskes	....	key grip (as Brian 'Coach' Fleskes)
Rian Gant	....	rigging electrician
Gordon Gaude	....	rigging electric
Bruce Henderson	....	dolly grip
Neil Holcomb	....	gaffer
Kale Jessen	....	playback operator
Norbert Kaluza	....	camera operator
Justin O'Shaughnessy	....	second assistant camera
David Robinson	....	lighting technician
Jeremiah Skender	....	best boy electric
Joseph Timko	....	rigging grip
John Trapman	....	aerial director of photography
Bryan 'fro' Waters	....	grip
Steve Waters	....	rigging electrician
Greg Wick	....	lighting technician
James WilderHancock	....	key grip: b unit
Davey Wilson	....	lighting technician
Jerry Turner	....	camera intern (uncredited)
James WilderHancock	....	additional grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Cara Chute	....	casting assistant
Eryn Goodman	....	casting associate: Oregon
Lana Veenker	....	casting: Oregon
Ranielle Gray	....	casting assistant: Oregon (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leslie Herman	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Ron Rauch	....	assistant editor
Elaine Walrath	....	assistant editor
Lana Wolverton	....	post-production coordinator
Myke Dixon	....	tape room operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Scott Davidson	....	music engineer
Scott Francisco	....	music editor
Kathie Stork	....	music producer: Joseph LoDuca Music

Transportation Department
Glen Enzen	....	transportation coordinator (as Glenn Enzen)
David Norris	....	picture car coordinator
Eric Solmonson	....	production driver
Ryder Greene	....	driver (uncredited)
Leonard Romie	....	driver: honeywagon (uncredited)
Joe Soleberg	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Bethany Andriuzzo	....	first assistant accountant
Don Baldwin	....	location manager
Jose Behar	....	assistant to producers
Suzanne Bingham	....	script supervisor
Christine Boylan	....	story editor
Liz Brandenburg	....	production coordinator
Kelly Crimmins	....	assistant to producers
Stephen Finders	....	key assistant location manager
Mark Mason Franco	....	production assistant
Chase Friedman	....	assistant: Dean Devlin
Robert Funk	....	payroll accountant
Shaun Gavin	....	key assistant location manager
Melissa Glenn	....	story editor
Kerry Glover	....	script coordinator
Michael Goldberg	....	production accountant
Kale Heily	....	production assistant
Albert Kim	....	story editor
Rebecca Kirsch	....	writers' assistant
Nick Kusen	....	production assistant
Rose Leiker	....	production assistant
Diana Eloise Levy	....	assistant: Kearie Peak
Ryan Mitchelle	....	assistant to Rachel Olschan
Ryan Mitchelle	....	assistant: Rachel Olschan
Wilson Peery	....	assistant production coordinator
Frederic Perrin	....	caterer
Elle Poindexter	....	assistant to Timothy Hutton
Elle Poindexter	....	assistant: Timothy Hutton
Jessica Rieder	....	story editor
Jenn Russell	....	assistant: Marc Roskin
Jessica F. Smith	....	production assistant (as Jessie Friedberg)
Andrew Ticer	....	assistant location manager
Ryan Van Riper	....	second assistant accountant
Tucker Wells	....	base camp production assistant
Doug Young	....	production assistant
Karla Benson	....	key set medic (uncredited)
Josh Goldberg	....	accounting clerk (uncredited)
Rachel Lipsey	....	key craft service (uncredited)
Adam M. Stone	....	product placement coordinator (uncredited)
Cat Stone	....	product placement coordinator (uncredited)
Robert Warberg	....	key assistant location manager (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chris Downey		creator
John Rogers		creator

Sound Department
Brion Condon	....	boom operator (2008)
Russell McAbee	....	sound utility (2008)

Stunts
Kelly Bellini	....	stunt double
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	....	stunts
Zac Henry	....	stunts
Karin Justman	....	stunt double: Beth Riesgraf
Tom Lowell	....	stunt performer
Chris Nolte	....	stunt performer
Linda Perlin	....	stunt double
Alicia Skirball	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph Czerw	....	grip
Jaime Dawkins	....	technocrane operator
Alexander Falk	....	camera production assistant
Bob Gomez	....	rigging electrician
Felipe Perez-Burchard	....	digital technician
Gregg Thompson	....	grip (2008)
James D. Wickman	....	dolly grip (2008)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jessica Albertson	....	costumer (2008)
Suzy Magnin	....	set costumer (2008)

Transportation Department
Brian C. Pawlowski	....	transportation office coordinator

Other crew
Laurel Beck	....	production assistant
Yuriy Chernin	....	production assistant
Dana Curt	....	medic (2008)
Brandan Dennehy	....	production assistant
Valerie Holloway	....	set production assistant
James A. McCoy	....	set production assistant (2008)
John Skach	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Johnworld

Distributors

• Viasat 6 (2011) (Hungary) (TV)

Other Companies

• Red Digital Cinema  camera equipment provided by
• Stone Management  product placement

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Company:

Johnworld

Trivia:

While in the hotel room, the porno film that a mark has watched repeatedly is called "In-da-panties Day". Dean Devlin was the writer and producer of _Independence Day (1996)_.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final scene, the tan/orange boom arm of the aerial working platform sitting on the dock appears in several shots as turned, extracted and raised well above the ship's deck, but in the final wide shot (when Nate is lying down) the boom is shown lowered (fully stowed).

Quotes:

Nathan Ford:[Wounded from being shot] My name is Nathan Ford. And I... am a thief.

Season 2: Solidly distracting but disappointing to see how totally it appears to lack ambition

As part of a trade-off of viewing tastes, my girlfriend agreed to watch (or at least be in the room while I watch) HBO's Deadwood while also watching season 2 of Leverage. This would allow me to watch something I snobbishly thought of as "better" television while also slowing down how quickly she would rip through the Leverage box set. In retrospect start alternating episodes of the two shows may not have been the best idea as even decent shows may struggle to look good when viewed alongside some of the best stuff to come from the HBO stable, but I did try and ignore the comparison aspect of contrasting the two.

What can be said about Leverage though? I have already reviewed the first season and sadly I could probably just copy/paste that review into this one since the approach of the second season appears to have been "whoa, people are watching this – don't change anything in case it upset the viewer base". As a result we get essentially a re-run of the first season – OK things are different because the characters are in a different place but mostly the basic plots run the same and the same things happen. Of course this is not to say that "sticking to formula" is a bad thing and for those that love the show it will be a subject to celebrate that it does maintain, but for me it was disappointing to see it lack ambition as a show.

I continued to "enjoy" the show as a distraction while I could watch while easily doing something else. Flicking through a magazine, browsing the internet – then Leverage is the show for you. It is really not the type of show that demands you pay attention to the finer details of the plot or the characterization. This is only a criticism though because the show itself doesn't do enough to make these things being basic a non-issue. It should be a non-issue because the show is all about having fun, being polished and having a real spark to it. After all, this is a comic-con-caper show – a genre (whether on TV or film) that is always accompanied by comedy, cool soundtracks, sparkle, fizz, twists and fun. Leverage sort of does all of those – and this is where the potential remains, to do them better. But season 2 doesn't, it retains the same "low rent" feel and keeps trying to do "meaningful" or "emotional" moments in each episode – even though these are generally attempted simply by having the score "go sad" for a bit and, related, they don't really work.

Such moments sit aside the lack of real sparkle. Each episode has funny moments and decent enough little cons but very few of them really flow and glide in a way that is effortlessly enjoyable and it is this presentation that I'm waiting for. It never comes though – or if it does it comes very sporadically and feels more like the exception than the rule. The cast continue to be good in these moments and they deserve better material and less of the clumsy attempts at depth and character that they (and we) have to endure.

Leverage has the potential to be a really enjoyable show – superficial perhaps but full of sparkle and fun. Sadly this season shows that perhaps it has no ambition to get to this point and that being "OK" is enough. The fact that the second season is currently being screened in weekday afternoons on heavy rotation as some sort of cheap filler suggests that maybe that is what this show is only going to be about – being good enough to attract a solid number of viewers, "safe" enough for all timeslots, steady enough as a formula to retain viewers – but not good enough to impress, ambitious enough to expand or good enough to be protected from daytime-TV status so soon after its first screening. I'm pretty sure that my relationship will see me watching season 3 when it gets to the UK, my hope is that between season 2 and 3 that someone decided to be more ambitious with it.