“The View From Jackie’s Head #6” – 10/31/16
Last week I finished my binge-watching of “Goliath,” the TV series that is playing on Amazon.com. It is a show you should consider if you are a fan of courtroom dramas. One of the creators of the show is David E Kelley, the man behind other amazing shows such as “Ally McBeal,” “The Practice,” “Boston Legal” and “L. A. Law.” He is also married to Michelle Pfeiffer but that is another story.
The star of “Goliath” is Billy Bob Thornton, scrawnier and scrappier than ever. Billy Bob plays Billy McBride, a down on his luck attorney who was once the founder of the law firm of Cooperman McBride. Through acts of his own he was forced out of that firm and is now basically an ambulance chaser. His ex-wife Michelle (Maria Bello) is still a partner at that firm and works closely with Donald Cooperman (William Hurt), who co-founded the firm with McBride.
One day out of the blue McBride is approached by real estate attorney Patty Solis-Papagian (Nina Ariandi). She asks him to represent a friend of hers in a wrongful death action on behalf of her brother. The company he worked for claims he committed suicide but his sister says he was killed in a boat explosion that was not his fault. The company he worked for is huge and the firm that representsit is Cooperman McBride.
Of course it all ends up with McBride going up against the Goliath of a law firm. It is pretty clear even from the start who to put your money on. Still at time it does get pretty testy with icily intelligent Callie Senate (Molly Parker) being McBride’s chief adversary. She can look you in the eyes, pat you on the back, and go for the jugular at the same time.
Kelley has always had a brilliance when it comes to assembling a cast. Think of William Shatner and James Spader in “Boston Legal” or of Calista Flockhart and Lucy Liu in “Ally McBeal.” In this show it is Thornton of course, but also Ariandi and Parker. These two women are superb in their respective roles.
There are a lot of similarities between this show and “Bosch.” One of the main similarities is that they are both excellent shows. They also deal with divorced men who share a daughter with their wives; they both live out their stories in California; and there is a melancholy mood that permeates each show. Plus they are both available on Amazon Prime.
The great thing is you don’t have to choose between them. You can watch them both and watch them both you should. “Bosch” has already been renewed for another couple of seasons, now I need to get similar news on “Goliath.”
On another front it seems there is the beginning of a groundswell to get Sally Field nominated as “Best Actress” when the awards season rolls around. Earlier this year she was in a movie titled “Hello My Name Is Doris.” She is brilliant in that movie but hardly anybody saw it. There is talk now it is going to be re-released to theaters.
Sally is famous for her “You like me, you really like me” acceptance speech. It is true, people really do like her. We have watched her long and illustrious career and she still seems like just good ole Sally. She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice before so there is a good possibility she could get nominated again.
Stay tuned and I will keep you up to date on the race. Right now her main competition appears to be Natalie Portman (“Jackie”), Ruth Negga (“Loving”), Amy Adams (“Arrival”), and Emma Stone (“La La Land”). All of those could drop out in an instant and new faces emerge. Awards time is my favorite time of the year because I get to participate by being a member in the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
Make your comments below and let me know what you think about the upcoming Awards and also about “Goliath”.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
