Television

So I watched BOOMTOWN the other day, my curiosity having been aroused by a four-star review for this particular episode in that paragon of McJournalism, USA TODAY, and other bits I've read. And I must admit, I was interested to see what sort of cop show might spring from the minds of the writer of SPEED and the producer of TANGO & CASH.

How was it? Pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. I think a lot of television critics, having been Rodney-King'd into submission by the nearly endless parade of police shows, are so thrilled to see a new take on the genre ("It jumps around and plays with time and stuff! It shows things from different points of view!") that they're cutting BOOMTOWN a lot of slack in other areas. Particularly writing. The acting was good, even if Neal McDonough's depiction of the hulking David McNorris' progression into near-psychotic breakdown seemed a bit forced. The writing, however, needed work; particularly the dialogue, which at times was so overly melodramatic it reached soap-operatic crescendos. Still, BOOMTOWN shows promise, especially with the always-excellent Mykelti Williamson on board, and the whole time- and POV-shifting thing, while gimmicky, does give it a little extra kick, even if it doesn't always work.

What does work is ROBBERY HOMICIDE DIVISION. Created by Michael Mann, who's been writing cops since POLICE STORY and could make salad dressing look cinematically stylish. Starring Tom Sizemore in full bad-ass mode. Perfect theme song by Dan the Automator. Dialogue so sharp it'll make your ears bleed. Michael Paul Chan. The result is brilliance, a cop show that comes at you like a freight train and looks as beautiful as it sounds. My only regret is that Mykelti Williamson, having worked with Mann in the past, didn't pass up BOOMTOWN to work on this one instead.