Director: Michael Pressman
"This counter-culture, Ray, will one day be looked uponas a time when a politicized youth rebelled against the
excesses of the Vietnam war, the excesses of corporate
arrogance, and the excesses of racial intolerance."
-- Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara)
Thanks to an original script, it's easier to properly assess the US remake of Life On Mars without déjà vu hanging over every moment. "My Maharashi Is Bigger Than Your Maharashi" finds the team investigating the murder of a Vietnam vet. The episode makes use of its 1973 context to highlight prejudices of the era -- from peacenik hippies campaigning against the Vietnam war, shameful attacks on soldiers who returned home after serving their country, and homophobic violence in general…
This rich cocktail doesn't provide the expected nourishment, although it certainly touched on some interesting period details and themes. Again, the main stumbling block is the fact Life On Mars has to juggle a typical '70s procedural with its fantasy elements. In a 43-minute episode, this leaves the cop show aspect looking stale and simpleminded as it jostles for emphasis (yes, the only notable guest star is unmasked as the culprit) and the enjoyable fantasy stuff will always be vague because that's the overarching mystery the show's built on.
Still, it's intriguing to see the remake tackle Sam's (Jason O'Mara) situation in new ways, throwing up all kinds of odd ideas and probable red herrings: an Indian maharashi pricks Sam's interest with a mystical talk about the nature of time; symbols on said guru's forehead later match with a building's window to lead Sam to his old house; Sam has flashbacks to half-forgotten childhood memories (a holdover from the BBC original); and hippie neighbour Windy (Tanya Fischer) even appears more tied to Sam's out-of-time experience than we first thought. Incidentally, is her insistence on calling Sam by his apartment number ("2B") a hokey dig at Shakespeare's "to be, or not to be" line?
To be fair, I actually enjoyed Sam's side investigation into his childhood, but everything's tainted by my overriding thought that the producers don't really have a plan in place. I'm willing to accept the flashbacks will basically culminate in a finale that echoes the BBC original's season 1 end -- but a Mars rover robot, a ghostly kid, a nutty hippy, and a weird Indian mystic? Sorry, as diverting as those things are, I don't believe they're all relevant pieces of the overall jigsaw.
In terms of acting, O'Mara's quite a good, solid lead actor. John Simm did a far better job of making you believe in Sam's dilemma, because O'Mara's just too reserved to bring a Simm level of histrionics to the table. He's hunky and bland in comparison to his predecessor, but he's at least likeable and refuses to be overshadowed by the other actors.
Gretchen Mol really improved a notch here, thanks to more screen time between her and Sam. She's perky, confident and far more interesting than the bullying Gene (Harvey Keitel), who still isn't a patch on Philip Glenister. It was mildly interesting to see Gene chew-out Ray (Michael Imperioli) for his hatred of gay men, while still retaining his own unsteady moral views on the matter (basically, murderers are worse than gays), but elsewhere he's just throwing chairs and spitting on suspects. There's very little sense of fun and zero signs of the reluctant camaraderie between Gene and Sam that was such a big part of the BBC original's sheriff/deputy dynamic.
Indeed, there isn't much reason to love this series yet. For me, it'll take extra effort for it to become anything more than a curiosity piece for fans of the British series. Beyond the excellent production design, cool choices of music, and some neat visuals teases about Sam's predicament, it's essentially just a middling cop drama with '70s moustache. The BBC show wasn't immune to the problems facing its American counterpart, either -- but it had two things working in it favour: genuine chemistry between all the actors (particularly Gene and Sam), and the good grace to conclude the mystery after a neat 16 episodes.
23 October 2008
ABC, 10/9c
Cast: Jason O'Mara (Sam), Harvey Keitel (Gene), Gretchen Mol (Annie), Jonathan Murphy (Chris), Michael Imperioli (Ray), John Cenatiempo (Sizeable Ted), Marc Scrivo (Hippie #1), Nimo Gandhi (The Maharishi), Brian Avers (Sticker), Matthew Backer (Hippie Guy), Jaron Farnham (Crew Cut), Robin Lord Taylor (Jimmy), Arnie Burton (Lawrence Jones), Timothy Adams (John Philip Fisher), Susan Misner (Carol Ann Reeves), John D'Leo (Robbie Reeves), Tanya Fischer (Windy), Tom Hatton (Hippie #2), Andre De Shields (Bartender), Matthew Cowles (Cowboy Dan) & Dean Winters (Vic Tyler)
