Bush Says Education is the Path to Democracy
Yes, but the path to the White House is paved with stupidity. (I love it when the news headlines write the jokes for you.)
New TV Show Review: Men In Trees (ABC)
When I heard the title MEN IN TREES, I figured Spike Lee or maybe Julie Dash had gone off and made a documentary about lynchings in the pre-Civil Rights South and I was sure that it was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. So I was kind of shocked to see it on ABC and to realize within the first few minutes that this show was definitely no documentary.
It does have Anne Heche though, who seems to have recovered nicely from about a six-year run as a tabloid favorite. Here she plays "relationship coach" Marin Frist ("relationship coach" is television short hand for a perky but neurotic female who talks a good game about relationships but doesn't really know anything about them), who goes to Alaska as part of a book tour but then gets dumped by her fiance and stranded in a small town that in no way resembles Cicely, Alaska from NORTHERN EXPOSURE.
OK, it exactly resembles Cicely, AK, right down to the kinda hunky, quirky radio show host, the wiser than-you-think Native American with the pickup truck and the barkeep with the waitress love interest. Geesh! Couldn't they at least pretend they were trying to do something original here? To be fair, episode two (which aired immediately after the pilot last Friday night) does a little better job in fleshing out the supporting characters in a way that makes them not so much of a pale copy of EXPOSURE, but overall ABC could probably get better ratings if they renamed the show NORTHERN EXPOSURE 2.0. (Or maybe NORTHERN EXPOSURE TOO. I really ought to work in television.)
The only real reason to watch this series at all is Heche. She reminds you that before the Ellen DeGeneres coupling and the psychobabble freakout, she was a sexy, charming, intelligent and very talented actress. I felt a little sorry for her here, working so hard in support of material that so far is contrived and a little beneath her. The character she plays also bugs me a little bit--think Ally McBeal meets Carrie Bradshaw but just a touch more cynical than either of them. But as a fan of good acting, Heche is doing her best and if MEN IN TREES doesn't work out mabye she get a decent part as a lead in a romantic comedy.
The show comes to us from one of the producers of SEX IN THE CITY (Jenny Bicks) and one of the writers of WILL & GRACE, with excellent direction by big time filmmaker James Mangold (Kate & Leopold, Copland) and recognizable, likeable supporting actors like Abraham Benrubi (I guess Jerry's not gonna survive that season-ending shooting on ER), John Amos and Cynthia Stevenson. Whoever plays the prostitute who lives/works next to Marin is also a likeable screen presence and very attractive, although she's the proverbial "hooker with a heart of gold", which is obviously problematic.
In the first two episodes at least, it's obvious the show is filmed far from a Southern California soundstage, which gives MEN IN TREES an authentic look, even if "authentic" really means British Columbia or Washington State. If you're home on a Friday night with nothing better to do and you're feeling nostalgic for NORTHERN EXPOSURE, then MEN IN TREES isn't embarrassingly bad and it's not boring to watch, but it could have been much, much better by being much less cliched. From a ratings standpoint I predict it will hold it's own, but I'd be surprised if it lasted much past it's original 13-episode order.
You Will Like It If: Pretty scenery, Ally McBeal and/or Anne Heche appeal to you.
You Won't Like It If: You're really smart, you really admired NORTHERN EXPOSURE and think this is a rip off or you're a guy who's not that in touch with your feminine side (or a woman tired of television shows that make all women look neurotic and desperate).
My Grade: C-
Viewer Mail
From an anonymous poster (although I think I know who you are):
"The war on terror is a sham?!?!? Why am I just now hearing about this?!?
Who knew?
How about the Maltese Falcon for your noir list? I also think The Third Man is great, but would you classify that as noir? I would."
I couldn't agree more. Key Largo is also pretty good too, although some of the plot elements make it more of a borderline noir.
Also, I'm glad to see Entertainment Weekly's website chiming in with their own discussion of the Top High School Movies of all time--maybe they saw my blog! They came up with some titles I forgot, so I may have to revise my list.
Until we meet again, Peace...
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