Premiere Review: “Boardwalk Empire”

HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” is an expensive, height-aspiring prohibition drama that might just be dead in the water.  Yes, I am taking a negative stance on a Terence Winter (“The Sopranos”) and Martin Scorcese (“The Eyebrows”) duet.

I just need a moment.

To be fair, “Boardwalk Empire” ventures stalwartly into uncharted territory, putting the flapper hat in period drama with its 1920’s Atlantic City backdrop.  Yet, there is something farcical about the pastel storefronts, the gold lettering on glass windows, and the unnerving bright light.  Even a Scorcese slow pan doesn’t really sell the jokey carnival as real or serious.  Maybe this is intentional—we’re supposed to see Atlantic City as an escape for Depression-era saps, so everything is fake because nobody wants the real world because it blows hard and they get enough of it at home.  This possibility is interesting, but not convincing.

This is my major issue with “Boardwalk Empire.”  I don’t know if anything really is intentional.  Whether or not the show is good or bad hinges on interpretation (like “Inception” and that noncommittal top).

First of all, the characters are drawn as figures—stereotype even.  Corrupt cop is a corrupt cop.  Up and comer is an up and comer.  Powerful man does powerful things.  They’re like stiff dolls.

By far the most interesting character should be Enoch Thompson (Steve Buscemi).  He’s the Treasurer aka loves money aka gangster aka is gonna run this town tonight aka bootlegger.  Oh, if only.  Enoch Thompson is based on a real man (clearly Buscemi wasn’t able to do any character research), but Buscemi decides to play Enoch as a somewhat effeminate politician.  You expect magnetism from a kingpin.  You expect cojones de steel and twisted intelligence.  At the very least some kind of presence.  Buscemi is weasel-y, creepy even, but not magnetic.

Without gripping characters, “Boardwalk Empire” is little more than a mobster dram—oh, Scorcese.

The dialogue too, is flat as a board.  There is no real inflection in the words.  People speak in platitudes.  This creates a sense of guardedness, everyone is both watching and being watched, but the pilot is an hour and ten minutes long.  The effect runs out about half way through, and then it’s like watching the big bad wolf try to blow down a brick house (inhaler).

The pilot episode of “Boardwalk Empire” is not good.  I don’t know how this happened.  I do think potential is still quite high, somber pacing works as a kind of syrupy reflection of the time, cinematography is lush (rich color palates), but the premiere is, well, flaccid.  And it isn’t the alcohol.

One Comment on “Premiere Review: “Boardwalk Empire””

  1. I disagree, I really thought it was an engaging and powerful debut for “Boardwalk Empire.” I’m not going to write my own entire review but I think the part I really disagree on is Steve Buscemi’s character. Nucky Thompson is somewhat soft, he is kind of creepy, and he is somewhat effeminate. But thats what gives the character depth. He is a man torn between life as a somewhat corrupt politician and a whole new world of sin and crime that he’s not sure he’s ready to dive into, but in the end crosses the line of which there is no turning back.

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