by Eric Blume
Our hero, the dreamer, hoping to be picked
We’ll be covering the latest Ryan Murphy show Hollywood for you, now streaming on Netflix. Instead of a retread of the plot each episode (because, who cares?) we thought we’d treat you to a succinct look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of it all each week. And, because the show features a lot of beautiful eye candy, include the 'Not So Ugly' as a digestif. Let’s take a look at Episode One…
EPISODE 1 "HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD"
The Actor (David Corenswet as "Jack") and The Writer (Jeremy Pope as "Archie") meet under false gay-sex-sting circumstances
THE GOOD
Murphy’s shows almost always have a strong-out-of-the-gate first episode before they spiral into a mess (sometimes as soon as episode two). Hollywood is no exception. Though more low-key than most of his shows which start out very big, you get dropped into the Hollywood milieu immediately, and it’s just a rather FUN forty-five minutes. You don’t expect subtlety in a Murphy production, just entertainment, and he delivers. It’s breezy and has a nice fizz.
David Corenswet, who plays our main protagonist, is not only ideally cast as the young actor-cum-gigolo, but he’s a solid actor. He shows a bright flair for comedy, keeps the character’s intentions front and center while making believable transitions in roughly-written moments, and captures that very 1950’s leading-man charm and charisma you want him to nail. Haters will say he’s just that dark-haired porcelain white guy type that Ryan Murphy crushes on, and while on one level that may be true, it’s a discredit to the fine talent of Corenswet, and those who became before him (Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, et al, who are all quite wonderful actors).
The pimp (Dylan McDermott) and his boys
Dylan McDermott seems to be having a great time with his role, based on real-life Hollywood sex worker Scotty Bowers. There’s not a lot of there there, but Hollywood never really did figure out what to do with McDermott, an actor decidedly game for playing anything, and he brings both a snazzy brio and a sad undercurrent to this service expert.
The costuming of the series’ men. Usually in a period piece like this, it’s all about the women’s clothing, but in this first episode, which concentrates on men selling themselves, designers Lou Eyrich and Sarah Evelyn do marvelous work accentuating these men’s bodies in tight, sexy fashions that feel both genuine and stylized at the same time. It’s rare and satisfying to see a Hollywood story where the men’s costumes really shine.
THE BAD
The John (in this case a Joan) and the Stud for Hire
It’s a bummer that Hollywood is lensed identically to Murphy’s Feud: Bette and Joan. Basically, you could insert scenes from one into the other and it’d be a few minutes before you realized a swap. I mean, the show “looks great”…it’s professionally and elegantly shot and you see the budget…but it has no visual point-of-view of its own. Couldn’t Murphy and team have devised something a little different?
Patti LuPone plays the studio chief’s wife, and let’s just say it’s not her finest hour. She’s commenting on everything while she’s doing it: she’s playing camp in the lighter moments (a conscious choice, surely, but not a particularly interesting one), and playing pathos rather than evoking it in the more tender moments. Plus, in her big scene with Corenswet, she’s not listening to him or playing off what he’s giving her…it all feels rehearsed solo in her dressing room ahead of time.
THE UGLY
Historical accuracy is obviously not the point. But...
Where can this show go from here? The trailer for the series and even the anachronisms all over the place suggest we're headed into a completely revisionist past, which could be interesting if Murphy were anywhere near as talented as, say Quentin Tarantino, another director who is super fond of revisionist history.
One of the reasons Episode One works well is because it’s light on its feet…when this material turns serious, though, it will likely be deadly.
THE NOT-SO-UGLY
Patti Lupone likes what she sees in David Corenswet, and so do we...
We get a late introduction to Jeremy Pope’s character here, and methinks he will be featured in a future write-up as the final beauty beat (he’s captivating). But because this episode was lean and mean and focused on Corenswet’s character, we should celebrate him. He has a statuesque frame, the chiseled face of a young Montgomery Clift, and a dimple the size of the Grand Canyon. He’s stunning in and out of clothes and embodies both old-style Hollywood and contemporary hunkdom. He makes the eyes happy. More please.
Did you like the first episode?
We'll discuss episodes 2 and 3 on Monday.