Post by NikkiGreen on Sept 29, 2010 13:37:52 GMT -5
LOLA Review: New City, Same Attitude
'Law and Order: Los Angeles' Review: New City, Same Attitude
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
John Kubicek, BuddyTV
The Law and Order franchise is a New York institution. Spanning more than two decades and four incarnations, the cast has changed, but the city has stayed the same.
Until now.
Law and Order: Los Angeles (premiering tonight at 10pm on NBC), the fifth installment in the franchise, jumps to the west coast, giving the show a new feel. Suddenly there are celebrities and the press to deal with But, most surprisingly, the show finds ways to stay true to the original format and attitude.
The detectives still investigate crime, the district attorneys still prosecute the offenders, only the offenders are a lot glitzier. The premiere of Law and Order: Los Angeles centers on a teenage starlet who goes clubbing despite being underage while accompanied by her overly involved mother. You'd have to ask Dina Lohan if that reminds her of anybody.
But the show succeeds with a strong cast who fill their roles admirably. Skeet Ulrich is perhaps overqualified to play Detective Rex Winters. I would describe his personality, but true to Law and Order protocol, that's not important (though the show does up-end tradition by bringing in his wife for the second episode).
See what Ulrich has to say about his character and how he prepared for the show:
Far more interesting is his partner, Tomas Jaruszalski (TJ for short). Actor Corey Stoll is able to capture the same attitude and sly take on murder that helped make Jerry Orbach so lovable as Lennie Briscoe on the original. Despite not showing any of his personal life, Stoll manages to add enough wit and perspective to every scene, just like the best Law and Order detectives.
See what Corey Stoll has to say about his character and the city of LA:
If there's a twist to the format in Law and Order: Los Angeles it's that the legal half of the series splits the action. Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard (two accomplished film actors) alternate as the two deputy district attorneys. This is certainly the show's strongest part because the split allows us to see two completely different kinds of lawyers.
Molina, who appears in the premiere as Ricardo Morales, is larger than life and knows how to play the Hollywood game, directing his own press conferences. Howard, who shows up in the second episode, plays Joe Dekker, a much more reserved lawyer whose quiet passion for justice leads him to act by his own moral compass.
The city is different, the cases and people are very different, but Law and Order has managed to move across the country and maintain everything that made the show a hit when it was set in New York City. The actors are all superb and find little ways to establish what kind of people their characters are without giving us any details about their personal lives.
With award-winning actors like Molina and Howard as well as an exciting newcomer in Stoll, Law and Order: Los Angeles has all the pieces to establish itself as a new procedural hit for NBC. And with a rather non-competitive time slot against two other new shows about lawyers, the familiarity of two separate yet equally important groups could help viewers rediscover the magic of Dick Wolf's long-running franchise.
'Law and Order: Los Angeles' Review: New City, Same Attitude
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
John Kubicek, BuddyTV
The Law and Order franchise is a New York institution. Spanning more than two decades and four incarnations, the cast has changed, but the city has stayed the same.
Until now.
Law and Order: Los Angeles (premiering tonight at 10pm on NBC), the fifth installment in the franchise, jumps to the west coast, giving the show a new feel. Suddenly there are celebrities and the press to deal with But, most surprisingly, the show finds ways to stay true to the original format and attitude.
The detectives still investigate crime, the district attorneys still prosecute the offenders, only the offenders are a lot glitzier. The premiere of Law and Order: Los Angeles centers on a teenage starlet who goes clubbing despite being underage while accompanied by her overly involved mother. You'd have to ask Dina Lohan if that reminds her of anybody.
But the show succeeds with a strong cast who fill their roles admirably. Skeet Ulrich is perhaps overqualified to play Detective Rex Winters. I would describe his personality, but true to Law and Order protocol, that's not important (though the show does up-end tradition by bringing in his wife for the second episode).
See what Ulrich has to say about his character and how he prepared for the show:
Far more interesting is his partner, Tomas Jaruszalski (TJ for short). Actor Corey Stoll is able to capture the same attitude and sly take on murder that helped make Jerry Orbach so lovable as Lennie Briscoe on the original. Despite not showing any of his personal life, Stoll manages to add enough wit and perspective to every scene, just like the best Law and Order detectives.
See what Corey Stoll has to say about his character and the city of LA:
If there's a twist to the format in Law and Order: Los Angeles it's that the legal half of the series splits the action. Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard (two accomplished film actors) alternate as the two deputy district attorneys. This is certainly the show's strongest part because the split allows us to see two completely different kinds of lawyers.
Molina, who appears in the premiere as Ricardo Morales, is larger than life and knows how to play the Hollywood game, directing his own press conferences. Howard, who shows up in the second episode, plays Joe Dekker, a much more reserved lawyer whose quiet passion for justice leads him to act by his own moral compass.
The city is different, the cases and people are very different, but Law and Order has managed to move across the country and maintain everything that made the show a hit when it was set in New York City. The actors are all superb and find little ways to establish what kind of people their characters are without giving us any details about their personal lives.
With award-winning actors like Molina and Howard as well as an exciting newcomer in Stoll, Law and Order: Los Angeles has all the pieces to establish itself as a new procedural hit for NBC. And with a rather non-competitive time slot against two other new shows about lawyers, the familiarity of two separate yet equally important groups could help viewers rediscover the magic of Dick Wolf's long-running franchise.
