Leverage 

A crew of high-tech crooks attempt to steal from wealthy criminals and corrupt businessmen.

Creators:

Chris Downey, John Rogers

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane

3 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Timothy Hutton	...	Nathan Ford / ... 77 episodes, 2008-2012
Gina Bellman	...	Sophie Devereaux / ... 77 episodes, 2008-2012
Christian Kane	...	Eliot Spencer / ... 77 episodes, 2008-2012
Beth Riesgraf	...	Parker / ... 77 episodes, 2008-2012
Aldis Hodge	...	Alec Hardison / ... 77 episodes, 2008-2012

Storyline

Former insurance claims investigator Nathan Ford heads a team of former top-criminals. They handle 'unorthodox' cases of people unlikely to get their dues through regular channels and legal procedures. That often involves stinging or otherwise scamming criminals. Nate's team is altered at times, and his professional as well as personal past repeatedly seems to catch up.

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Plot Keywords:

female thief | mastermind | master thief | 21st century | 2000s | 

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Taglines:

The art of the con.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

TNT

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dokonalý podraz

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Electric Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the shady business practices the Leverage team seeks to correct are based on real life occurrences. For example, the antagonist in "The Order 23 Job" is transparently based on Bernie Madoff, and the trick the Retzings pull in "The Snow Job" was actually perpetrated on several families in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

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Quotes

[season 3 and later openings]
Nathan Ford: [to camera] The rich and powerful take what they want. We steal it back from you.
Titles: [slides over the whole screen] LEVERAGE
Titles: [on footage of Eliot] LEV*HITTER*AGE
Titles: [on footage of Hardison] LEV*HACKER*AGE
Titles: [on footage of Sophie] LEVERA*GRIFTER*
Titles: [on footage of Parker] ERAG*THIEF*
Nathan Ford: [voiceover] Sometimes, bad guys make the best good guys.
Titles: [on footage of Ford] LEVE*BRAINS*GE
Nathan Ford: [to camera] We provide... leverage.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in TableTop: Fiasco, Part 2 (2012)

User Reviews

Fun

"Leverage" is an entertaining, fun show. The cast is stellar, the writing snappy, and the characters are likable. It's nice to see a show that doesn't focus too heavily on the "dark side" of everything and can exist without a message.

That's not to say that there aren't poignant moments. (Nate in "The Snow Job" and Parker in "The Stork Job" are particularly memorable.) But they aren't in the majority. Although not every episode is brilliant, none have failed yet to make me laugh at least once.

The show follows a group of thieves who take on corporate villains who have too much power for their victims to defend themselves under normal means. Timely? Oh, yeah.

Timothy Hutton is the much-advertised Oscar-winning face of the team's leader, ex-insurance investigator Nathan Ford. At first, I was incredibly underwhelmed by Hutton's performance. After a few episodes, however, I started to think that maybe he was deliberately underacting (while the others are overacting) to contrast Nate's "honest man" to the thieves who make up the rest of the cast.

Gina Bellman plays a sympathetic Sophie Deveraux. Sophie is the team's "grifter" who moonlights as an actress. How well does that go? As Nate puts it, "she can act... when it's an act." Although she's hilarious, Bellman isn't the funniest of the cast by any means. Christian Kane, the badass Texan you might remember from "Angel," is even tougher, funnier, and angrier as the team's strangely likable fighter Eliot Spencer. Beth Riesgraf contrasts his deadpan humor perfectly as Parker, the crazy but lovable money-obsessed thief. And Aldis Hodge is hilarious, playing the cool geek of their techie, Alec Hardison.

The group has their conflicts, and in the first season, it looks like their biggest problem might be staying together. But the quirkiness and bickering creates a team of misfits that will have you rooting for them from the beginning.

"Leverage" is a good, escapist show where everything is sexy and exciting and the good guys always win. I can see this show becoming a cult hit, or I can see it failing after only a few seasons. Either way, if nothing else, it's fun!