“The Looming Tower” (Hulu)
“The Looming Tower” is a ten part series premiering March 28 on Hulu. It tells the story of events leading up to the tragedy of 9/11. It is based on a book by Lawrence Wright and focuses on the rise of Al Queda. The story also concerns two men, John O’Neill (Jeff Daniels) of the FBI, and Martin Schmidt (Peter Sarsgaard) of the CIA. The competition between these two agencies and particularly these two men form the core of the story.
The story starts out strong with the introduction of the characters and stays that way until the end when it just peters out with no big crescendo of an ending in any way. The fact the last episode concerns the 9/11 attack shows how emotionally jarring the series could have been. As presented the buildup to this tragedy was more interesting than the final event, as it mostly plays out off camera.
The one word that describes the series is “authentic.” The series has the look and feel of being almost documentary in style. This is particularly true when the scenes are focused on Ali Soufan (Tahar Rahim), a Lebanese born American FBI Agent. Soufan speaks the language of the Saudis and is a man who works vigilantly to try to prevent Al Queda from following through on their various plots. He is also the agent upon whom O’Neill most relies.
Jeff Daniels is brilliant as O’Neill. It is a once in a lifetime role that he plays to the hilt. O’Neill is a good, dedicated public servant. He puts his job ahead of just about everything. But he is also an immoral man who is married but carrying on affairs with two other women. His off-duty life style is constantly threatening to undermine his career at the FBI. Daniels provides all the nuances and lets the chips fall where they might. His O’Neill comes off as someone you admire on the one hand and detest on the other.
Also good is Alec Baldwin as the oily George Tenet. Baldwin pulls out all the stops as he plays a man who can not really look anyone in the eyes when trying to justify his isolationist stance with the CIA. Baldwin is constantly in view on television in one light hearted role after another but this role reminds audiences of what a solid dramatic actor he is.
The cast overall is uniformly good and that is a real plus for this story. There are so many varied characters that you have to learn them quickly or not at all. Each actor comes on screen and makes his/her character known and it is strong enough for the impression to linger long after they have left. As the pieces of the story build to create a lasting effect these “smaller” performances are key.
It is hard to explain why the conclusion of the story is such a let down. Maybe a little more telling of what happened to the characters who survived the tragic events would have helped. For me the end just spurred me to google the people introduced and to see who ended up wth blame and who did not.
Even with my unhappiness with the ending I have to say “The Looming Tower” is a series you should watch. The history you learn and the people you meet are worth your time in the utmost way. It all happened too recently to be ignored and it is still impacting us every day forward.
The Looming Tower” is available on Hulu beginning March 28.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
