‘Chase’ (NBC – Monday, 10:00 p.m.)

 

From Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“CSI” franchise, “The Amazing Race,” “Pirates of the Caribbean”) and executive producer Jennifer Johnson (“Cold Case,” “Reunion,” “Lost”), “Chase” is a lightning-fast drama that drops viewers smack into the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse as a team of U.S. Marshals hunts down America’s most dangerous fugitives.

Kelli Giddish (“Past Life”) stars as U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down violent criminals on the run. Starring as the members of Frost’s elite team are Cole Hauser (“K-Ville”) as Jimmy Godfrey, an East Texas kid who never grew up and is a true American cowboy; Amaury Nolasco (“Prison Break”) who plays Marco Martinez, a good intelligence guy who loves to talk; and Rose Rollins (“The L Word”), who portrays Daisy Ogbaa, a weapons/tactical specialist and a woman of few words. Rounding out the cast is Jesse Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives”), who stars as Luke Watson, the fresh-faced newcomer whose Washington, D.C. upbringing did little to prepare him for the Lone Star State. – NBC

The Preview (Posted 9/15/2010):

Shawn: Although, seemingly formulaic and reeking suspiciously of U.S. Marshalls (I was waiting for Tommy Lee Jones to pop out and start barking orders about finding Richard Kimball in the trailer), the high-energy and the strong cast of Chase makes it certainly worthy of consideration.  I’m not jumping out of my pants about it yet but it is a Jerry Bruckheimer production and that definitely makes it worth watching for at least the first three or four episodes.  “Cautiously optimistic” is the best way to describe my enthusiasm for Chase.

The Review:

3 out of 10

Shawn:     Alright, that is the absolute last time I automatically give a show the benefit of the doubt for being a Jerry Bruckheimer production and I should have had this policy in place a long time ago because of CSI alone (but let’s be fair… I did use the phrase “cautiously optimistic.”).  Bruckheimer’s problem in general is that when he really gives a damn, he gets behind projects that although may not have long-term success are at least original (see: Justice, E-Ring).  When he doesn’t, he reverts to bland and intelligence-insulting procedurals like Chase. 

One thing I can say about Chase is that the there is certainly a lot of that during the hour, in fact that’s about all they do and yes it gets very stale, very quickly.  When they aren’t running all over Texas, they are sitting around a room and doing the psychoanalysis version of CSI but instead of a forensics investigation based on actual evidence, this crew comes up with off-the-wall behavioral theories about their fugitive’s psyche and it just so happens that everything they predict about the fugitive’s current and next moves is absolutely what the bad guy is doing!  They literally NEVER make a mistake or misstep and it left me with one conclusion: these jokers don’t need to be working for the Marshal Service collecting government salaries, they need to hook up with Miss Cleo and make some real money.

CALL MEH’NOW!

Chase is boring and contrived.  The characters are clichéd, poorly written and conceived, and furthermore generally cringe-worthy and unlikable.  The dialog is ridiculous, and the general premise of the show is that all you need to know about Texas is that everyone in the state worships Waylon Jennings and knowing that will allow you to track any fugitive.  The only thing that this show has going for it at all is that it’s fast paced and very well-shot which I think was done on purpose to distract the audience from how bad the show is plot and character-wise.  Either that, or they just sunk all of their money into the technical side of production and NONE into the writing side. 

For the record, the actors are fine and actually all have been traditionally very good.  The problem is the writing.  You can’t polish a turd and Jeff Gordon can’t win a race driving a 1993 3-cylinder Geo Metro.

By the way, I don’t even like NASCAR but I figured if Chase can make a whole show based on clichés and stereotypes about Texas, the South and rednecks, why not get in on that as well with the analogies.  When in Dallas…

Oh, and one last thing, Jerry… no one likes seeing the portrayal of a family terrified and graphically murdered execution-style during the opening sequence of a pilot… NO ONE.

Watch full episodes of Chase, here.

Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

After a long bout with prostate cancer, iconic American actor Dennis Hopper passed away on Saturday, May 29, 2010 at the age of 74 at his home in Venice Beach, California surrounded by friends and family.  Hopper, best known for his roles in Apocalypse Now and the counter-culture classic Easy Rider, had a career that spanned more than 50 years in film and television dating back to such classics as 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause, 1956’s Giant and one of my personal favorites, 1967’s Cool Hand Luke.  What made Hopper so unique in my opinion was the incredible amount of diversity in his roles and his ability consume each character as if the roles were written for him.  Whether playing the drug-dealing outlaw biker Billy in Easy Rider (the landmark film that Hopper directed, starred and wrote which earned him a Best Writer Oscar nomination in 1970) or the basketball-loving town drunk Shooter in Hoosiers,  (the role that earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination in 1987 and his only Oscar nomination for acting) or the psychopathic Balkan warlord, Victor Drazen on the first season of 24 or Colonel Eli McNulty on the short-lived Jerry Bruckheimer Special Ops Thriller series E-Ring on NBC from 2005 – 2006,  there simply wasn’t a role that Hopper could not play.

Hopper was perhaps the world’s greatest character actor who just happened to be a superstar.  I’m reminded of just how good Hopper was when I think of his performance in my favorite role of his, that of retired cop Clifford Worley, father to perpetual loser with-a-heart-of-gold, Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) in True Romance.  In this 1993 cult-classic directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino, Hopper took what was in essence a cameo role and made it into the most memorable role in the film and single-handedly manufactured the most brilliant scene of the film.  Every time I see this film I have to ask myself if Tarantino wrote this scene specifically with Hopper in mind because no one could have handled the scene between Clifford Worley and Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken) as masterfully as Hopper and I wonder if Tarantino knew that this little ten-minute scene was going upstage every other performance in what was one of the best films of the decade.  Honestly, you almost forget how good this movie is overall because of the famous “interrogation” scene with Walken and Hopper.

Dennis Hopper was a legend who indelibly left his mark on film and screen and I feel blessed that I had the pleasure of experiencing his genius within my lifetime.  Hopper left behind four children, including a seven year-old daughter named Galen, and two grandchildren, Violet Goldstone and Ella Brill.

For more information about the life and career of Dennis Hopper, visit IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni2644645/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000454/