Julie and I caught up with it last night. It looks great, with excellent use of Kentucky scenery. The music is evocative and bluesy. The dialogue is laconic and tough, with notes of humor. The acting is fine, particularly Timothy Olyphant, who played Seth Bullock on Deadwood.
Olyphant's role in Justified is similar to Seth Bullock. Here he plays Deputy U.S Marshal Raylan Givens, sent against his will from a prestigious post in Miami back to his home town in Kentucky after he publicly shoots a gunrunner poolside at a luxury hotel. Olyphant is good at this kind of role; Givens, like Bullock, is a decent lawman with a good heart, powerful sense of justice, and deep and forceful wellsprings of suppressed rage.
Also standing out is Joelle Carter, who plays Ava Crowder. Ava was a girl when Raylan Givens left home, and she had a crush on him, but she was too young for him. She's not too young for him now. She's beautiful, smart, sexy, and makes it very clear that he can have her any time he wants her. Which is great for Raylan. On the other hand, she just might be batshit crazy, which is a liability in a potential romantic partner.
I have two problems with this show: One is a feeling that I've seen it all before. It looks like about a million atmospheric crime shows and movies I've seen over the years, going all the way back to "48 Hrs."
The other problem I have with this show is that it's so very, very violent. The body count is at least a dozen. I'm increasingly become concerned with that in TV and movies.
I'll give it another try. This was just the first episode, maybe it will find its voice and deal with the violence more effectively.
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