Smallscreen Reviews
Review: 'Boardwalk Empire,' American ambition writ large
By April MacIntyre Sep 17, 2010, 19:31 GMT
"Boardwalk Empire" premieres Sunday at 9 p.m ET/PT on HBO.
The glory of premium cable has been restored to HBO with the mesmerizing period drama created by executive producers Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg in their latest smallscreen effort, "Boardwalk Empire."
Every aspect of filmmaking is superb, from writing, casting and acting to all the crafts, especially the art department and costuming that has not been seen since other great HBO series like "Rome," "Deadwood," "The Pacific" and "Carnevale."
Scorsese directed the pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire which introduces us to the main character, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi). Thomspon is the corrupt Treasurer of Atlantic City. A cold-blooded gangster Pol with a heart, grieving a wife who passed from consumption, and who has a soft spot for dames in distress. With the dawn of prohibition, Thompson sees huge opportunity to make money as the public's thirst for alcohol does not abate, and gambling dens and speakeasies flourish.
HBO has been touring the country throwing wonderful parties and premieres to celebrate this landmark series, and last night (September 16) the Santa Monica Pier was transformed into Atlantic City.
HBO executives, actors, writers, crew and their guests dressed in the fashion of the era and dined on delicious party food that featured a beautiful host bar, Asian specialties, Pulled Pork on steamed buns and Kobe beef and Vegan Sliders, gourmet pizzas and a fancy mashed potato bar replete with boardwalk staples like a contortionist, beautiful dancers, fortune tellers, and an array of casino games and cars bordering the Pier platform from the time period.
The gala event was planned ahead of this Sunday's opening show, and the network spent a pretty penny recreating this Prohibition-era New Jersey boardwalk.
"Boardwalk Empire" premieres Sunday at 9 p.m ET/PT on HBO.
Prior to the screening at the historic Laemmle Theater in Santa Monica, a deco treasure and one of the oldest movie houses in all of Los Angeles, HBO's publicity talked about how a Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. was transformed by a genius art department into the realistic depiction of a circa 1920 Atlantic City boardwalk.
You will marvel at the attention to details "Boardwalk Empire's" production designer Bob Shaw instilled all his coworkers, art director Doug Huszti and set decorator Carol Silverman, who bring to life the sets that surround a perfectly costumed and coiffed group of actors who must have loved being able to flesh out their fascinating historical characters to the hilt.
The most minute things were not missed on these perfectly appointed interior sets: Push button electrical panels, the use of shades of blue wall paint that was so fashionable for the time, the textiles in the furnishing and draperies, key furniture pieces, the luxe wood and copper laden interior of Colisimo's restaurant in Chicago, Nucky's office and home, the posh estate sitting room of the Commodore Kaestner (Dabney Coleman) and all the period Tiffany lamps and other objets d'artes that defines the fashionable home.
Also the lower end was perfectly outfitted, as Darmody (Michael Pitt) and Nucky's damsel in distress, Margaret Schroeder's (Kelly Macdonald) modest abodes are realistic, cramped and feature the right gadgets of the time that were so popular.
The exterior sets are equally detail-rich. The boardwalk and the sandy beach are constructed of stacked shipping containers walled together in an effort that combined with a bit of CGI makes a realistic seashore surrounding.
The turn of the Century had left-over Victorian era-love for human oddities as entertainment, as the malformed, contortionists and even tiny babies were considered an attraction. On "Boardwalk Empire's" main stroll, you will have the famous Fralinger's sweetshop selling salt-water taffy next to the "Incubator Baby" storefront that saw the unfortunate underweight preemies cared for by nurses in full view of the passing public.
Based on the nonfiction book "Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City," by Nelson Johnson, the HBO series also features the writing talents of Terence Winter, who penned three of my all-time favorite Sopranos episodes, "The Knight in White Satin Armor," "D-Girl" and "Pine Barrens."
What he does through clever writing and cinematic visual sweeps that are breathtaking is show us a true tale of unbridled American ambition in an energetic period of our country that saw great wealth and power created. The mafia was organized and deeply strengthened during this time of opportunity, right before the Great Depression.
Winter gives us our flawed Nucky in big story arcs that show him winning over a room of Temperance League women via a manipulative childhood story, and one married Irish immigrant, Mrs. Margaret Schroeder, who later comes to him in a bid to get her husband some work.
Nucky feels for her, and in the process of his good deed (which backfires horribly) Margaret becomes someone he deeply cares for. Nucky is a realist who instinctively knows what is good for his own pocket lining, is also good for his local constituents.
Agent Van Alden (Michael Shannon) is brilliant as the righteous avenger angel set forth by the FBI to enforce the law of the land, and do "Godly work." A true scene stealer. James "Jimmy" Darmody (Michael Pitt) is Nucky's driver and right-hand man, Darmody is jaded, impatient and not looking back at his lost opportunity for a Princeton education. He hooks up with a young Al Capone (Stephen Graham) the young muscle of kingpin Johnny Torrio. Together these two motivated kids build the Chicago Mob.
Also starring are Sheriff Elias “Eli” Thompson (Shea Whigham), Nucky's German immigrant butler Eddie Kessler (Anthony Laciura), Jimmy's wife Angela Darmody (Aleksa Palladino), Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) a tea-totaler Jewish gangster accused of fixing the 1919 World Series; Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Vincent Piazza) a hot-headed gangster who aligns himself with Rothstein initially, Mickey Doyle (Paul Sparks), a creepy, wheezing bootlegger who distills in a mortuary and uses Formaldehyde to cut the hooch; Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams) an ex-boxer runs Atlantic City's African-American community and partners with Nucky; Lucy Danziger (Paz de la Huerta), a cruel, childish Ziegfeld Follies girl and Gillian (Gretchen Mol) is a gorgeous showgirl with a past.
Make every effort to watch this beautiful, violent and captivating slice of American history.
