Darrow is a historical drama which premiered on US television (PBS) in 1991.
It is an episode of the program American Playhouse which ran for more than a decade (1982-1993).
The topic is the life and career of the famous and controversial American lawyer Clarence Darrow.
□■□■
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director = John David Coles
** Writers = William Schmidt and Stephen Stept
** Run time = 100 minutes
□■□■
The cast includes the following:
** Kevin Spacey as Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)
** Paul Klementowicz as Eugene Prendergast (1868-1894)
** Chris Cooper as Eugene Victor Debs (1855-1926)
** Erin Cressida Wilson as Jessie Darrow (1857-1953) - Darrow’s first
wife (married 1880-1897)
** Rebecca Jenkins as Ruby Darrow (1868-1957) - Darrow’s second
wife (married 1903-1938)
** Stephen Mailer as Paul Everett Darrow (1883-1956) -Darrow’s son
** Callista Flockhart as Lilian Anderson - Paul's wife
** Bruce McVittie as John McNamara (known as JJ) - a client
** Donal Logue as James McNamara (known as JB) - a client
** Paul Guilfoyle as Bert Franklin - Darrow's investigator
** Paul Roebling as Earl Rogers (1869-1922) - Darrow's lawyer
** Jamie Harold as Nathan Leopold (1904-1971) - a client
** Barrie del Sherman as Richard Loeb (1905-1936) - a client
□■□■
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some answers:
42 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
62 percent = IMDb
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 30 ratings of this product, including more than 20 with reviews.
The average rating is 3.8 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 76 percent
□■□■
Kevin Spacey plays the main role of Clarence Darrow. He is in almost every scene.
He is well-chosen for this role, because he looks almost like the real Clarence Darrow.
But Chris Cooper, who plays the role of Eugene Debs, is not well-chosen, because he does not look like the real Eugene Debs.
I think Kevin Spacey does a great job. He is a talented actor. He understands the personality of Darrow and he is able convey this personality to the audience.
But even though Kevin Spacey does a great job, he cannot lift the historical drama to a high level.
What is wrong?
Clarence Darrow had a long career. He started as a lawyer in 1880 and continued until 1932.
In this drama, the time frame runs from 1894 to 1924. The beginning his career is excluded. The end of his career is also excluded.
During a long career Darrow had many cases. And many of them were important.
Obviously, it is impossible to cover all his important cases in a drama which runs for 100 minutes.
Several significant cases are excluded from this drama. For instance, his defence of the trade unionist William “Big Bill” Haywood in Idaho in 1907.
A solution to this problem would be to create two episodes of 100 minutes each.
In this way it would be possible to include the important cases which are excluded here.
Apparently, the American Playhouse did not have a budget that was big enough to pay for a double feature.
In this drama, we have six chapters:
#1. Prendergast (1894)
# 2. Debs (1894 and 1895)
# 3. Divorce (1897)
# 4. Second marriage (1903)
# 5. California (1911 and 1912)
# 6. Leopold and Loeb (1924)
What we have here is not bad, but too much is not here.
Kevin Spacey does a great job, but his performance cannot make up for what is missing.
I find the rating on Rotten Tomatoes too low and the rating on Amazon too high. In my opinion, the rating on IMDb is quite appropriate.
Clarence Darrow is an important person in the history of modern America.
The story of his life and career deserves to be told, but this drama is not quite successful. In my opinion, it deserves a rating of three stars (60 percent).
REFERENCE
The Website Famous Trials
*****
The famous and controversial
American lawyer
Clarence Darrow
(1857-1938)
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment