Goliath (TV Series) Of Mice and Men (2016) User Reviews

Very Promising

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 25 October 2016]

Billy Bob Thornton plays a down and out (but very talented) lawyer. He is drowning himself in alcohol and sex. He is estranged from his wife. He has been successful in the past but now has lost his will. One day a woman comes in. Her brother was killed when a boat exploded. It was ruled a suicide, but she knows her brother would not do such a thing. As he digs in, he suspects the man's wife of a cover-up. Also, if the suicide thing doesn't happen, the firm his wife works for stands to lose a lot of money. He becomes involved with the woman who sought him out and now surrounds himself with some interesting partners (one a hooker and another scatterbrained lawyer). Soon, threats begin to fly and he comes to realize how big a liability he is becoming. Nicely done first episode.

Setting A Table Filled With Lies & Deceit

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 23 July 2018]

The rock of this series is Billy Bob Thorton. While this is an original Amazon series which makes it less main stream than the Bad Santa movies, this series starts to show that Thorton is a pretty darned good actor. The role here is like Paul Newman in "The Verdict" in structure, but Thorton's character gets to go beyond that because this has a lot more adult content.

The case introduced is a murder that has been ruled a suicide involving a person working for a large defense contractor who makes "weapons to keep us safe overseas." Of course there's a lot more to come as this series takes the luxury of developing this case and the trial over 8 episodes of twists and turns. This one introduces the characters, and the client gets a real personal introduction to Billy Bob.

Not everyone has Amazon (though they are trying to get just everyone) but if you do get access to it, this series is a first season must see. Veteran actor William Hurt plays the evil bad guy that has rocked Thorton's world in more ways than one. Here Hurt has just started clicking. Then there is the eye full of Brittany Gold that we start to take into consideration here. Consider this the very beginning of evidence discovery and you will get hooked.

Well Performed Opening Episode by Thornton

[lavatch · 7/10 · 11 January 2017]

The premise of this opening episode of "Goliath" is that of a burned out attorney, who is drawn back into the profession to fight for justice in a death of a man on a boat that may have involved foul play.

Apart from Billy Bob Thornton's portrayal of the attorney, the characters seemed like stereotypes. The most strained relationship was that of the the attorney and his ex-wife, who works for the corrupt law firm implicated in the blowing up of the boat. The woman is all too willing to throw her former husband under the bus. William Hurt's character of a vindictive attorney almost seems like he is from a science fiction film with his maddening habit of the "cricket."

I couldn't help but think of the Paul Newman thriller "The Verdict," which was brilliantly directed by Sidney Lumet and developed the same conceit of the burned-out attorney seeking a comeback to his life and career.

The arc of redemption

[Rajit_thebingewatcher · 9/10 · 26 August 2023]

From the very first scenes you know this "Billy" guy is wasted but has a potential to topple up champions. From the initial scenes you know he is up against the "titans" of the industry. So it promises the lawyers redemptions arc, it promises the underdog story. It helps you to root for him, it makes you feel sorry for "Billy" . As the cooperman goes ruthless , non ethical and non traditional you know things are going to get dirtier.

Honestly everything is about Billy in this series and Billy plays Billy so well.

On a scale between 0 to Saul Goodman I promise that Billy will get a noteworthy mention in the history of courtroom drama series.

Liked most of Season 1 except...

[jmdarden-25102 · 9/10 · 6 November 2019]

I've watched all three seasons of Goliath but Season 1 is (obviously in my and only my opinion) by far the best and the only one I will comment on. So many great actors, known and unknown to me. William Hurt never disappoints, for decades now. Billy Bob Thornton is great with his depth of character, great physical and vocal presence, his wide range of expression which can be tough without overdoing it but also tender and loveable with his warm and attractive deep brown eyes and smile. I cannot say enough about Nina Arianda as Patty Solis-Papagian whose character very much rounds out scene after scene with her loveable intensity which she manages to pull off without coming across as a capital "B" beeyatch. Love her feisty, outspoken character!! Mario Bello as Michelle McBride was likeable and believable - and surprising for a partner in a big-time law firm - sensitive and thoughtful. Callie was great as a manipulative, conniving lawyer, totally comes across as seeing herself above anyone else in her life except Cooperman. Not a likeable person but certainly a believeable character whose insecurities do reveal themselves towards the end, sort of the even-the-witch-has-feelings thing. The daughter character and her relationship with her father is so-so. For anyone who has also seen the Bosch series, felt like this show was trying to emulate that father/daughter set up and failing to present as genuine. Not bad, just not a real plus. Tanya Raymonde as Brittany had its strong segments but her work should be limited to when her characters are strong and self-confident. The scenes where I assume she intended to appear vulnerable like when she begs in tears for 5 min to talk after her testimony worked against Billy or when she's pulling her sleeves down over her hands to appear nervous/intimidated about being in court came across as just pathetic. Okay, I've got to express my one pet peeve and criticism and that is Dwight Yoakam as Wendell. I love, absolutely LOVE Yoakam as a singer but cannot for the life of me figure out what he's doing acting, esp in a series w some really decent actors. First impression, that bozo-the-clown hair, bald on top, the rest sticking out in every direction does not add character, even weird character, just looks awful. Shave that like the rest of men this day and age, or at least cut it. But more importantly, he's a horrible actor. His facial expressions have ZERO range as does his voice. Try hitting the mute button and see if you can tell what's happening in any given scene. Whether he's telling someone off or saying something more less intense there's never the slightest change in his face (especially his eyes) or voice, just absolute flat affect, not only disappointing but downright irritating. Watching this reminded me of when I'd first heard of Billy Bob Thornton when Sling Blade debuted so out of curiosity I pulled that up and watched it. Wow! Pretty hard to tell now what all the fuss was about other than how well BBT played that main character - it's impossible to tell that it is actually BBT. I'm mentioning this only to say that - oop!- there was Dwight again in that film and he was apparently just as bad back then, has not improved one iota in 25 years. Couldn't believe it. He's obviously got contacts because he cannot be chosen for talent. The actor playing Leonard Letts was similar, a limited range of emotion. He appeared in some episodes of Criminal Minds and was a total disappointment for that same reason - flat affect. Seasons 2 and 3 were, I'm sure, full of overall equal talent and performances, the stories were just less interesting to me and harder to follow, esp all the fantasy stuff in Season 3. Not saying they're bad, they just don't appeal to me. Season 1 of Goliath is worth watching if one can get through the legalise to enjoy the rest. Overall, just one more shout out to Nina Arianda as Patty - feisty, funny (even and probably more so when she's not intending to be), outspoken, doesn't take stuff from anyone. Love that character!!!!

And I'm All Alone And The Fire Grows.....

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 7/10 · 9 July 2020]

I've watched the whole series but watching it through again for this review.

Season 1-

I really love the cast in this season. Molly Parker, Mario Bello, starting in Episode 1 great actors with great performances. William Hurt...did he get an emmy for this performance in this?? He should have won an emmy for Season 1. Without a doubt. During Ep5, the deposition, why Billy lets MP interrogate Ned over his video without objection, that was stupid. -1 star. Ep8 -1 Star for Billy's line of questioning in the case not being admonished by the judge, also for WH's testimony reaction not being cautioned by the judge....and another -1 Star in the same episode for the testimony of Brittany Gold being objected to and the objection ignored by the judge. Procedure has to be followed in courtrooms and when it isn't it just screams fake.

Really liked Dwight Yoakum as well in his character. Yoakum and Thornton were such great 'adversaries' before in one of the very greats, SlingBlade.

Aside from the great performances in Season 1, on the second complete watch-through I did notice a few more glaring flaws than I did the first time I watched through all of it.

Second Time giving Season 1 a 7/10

Season 2-

Another season with a great cast. Some great guest appearances at some bad guys. Haha... Jon Savage, Steven Bauer...... What I really liked is you actually see some humanity from McBride as he confronts his demons

This season we find out that Billy McBride doesn't always win. And we also find out that he is very very unusually lucky in getting out of scrapes where he should have probably ended up dead.

Season 2 also gets a 7/10 .

Season 3 - 'Be Fair And Just To The 99%'

I don't know how this show does it. Is it Billy Bob that does it? Or is it the casting agent(s) that get some of the all time greats to show up? This season we have Denis Quaid, Beau Bridges, Amy Brenneman, Graham Greene, and the return of Ana de la Reguera, Paul Ben-Victor and William Hurt. This season is about how the rich hi-jack the water supply in CA. For any CA resident, especially SoCal, this subject matter hits very close to home. Billy again finds a way to survive another couple of confrontations with certain death. I certainly know I wouldn't have made it. Again as far as inside the courtroom, some major procedural flaws but entertaining to us non legal types. I didn't like what apparently happened to any of the major players at the very end.

Season 3 also, gets a somewhat generous score of 7/10