Article first published as HAP AND LEONARD Review on Seat42F.
I’ve
been missing FX’s Justified something fierce ever since it left the
air, but Sundance has a new series that might just fill that void, for
awhile anyway. Premiering last night, HAP AND LEONARD is the story of
two men in Texas who get roped into a heist. Based on a story by Joe
Lansdale (Cold in July), the titular characters inhabit a very specific
world that is caring without being showy about it, and violent when it
needs to be. It’s hella entertaining.
Leonard
(Michael Kenneth Williams, The Wire) and Hap (James Purefoy, The
Following) have been friends for a very long time. They work together in
the rose fields, they exercise together through boxing, and they accept
one another unconditionally as best friends, defending the best
interests of the other when someone threatens to interfere with that.
They are as close as two men can be.
But
that’s not immediately obvious from the first scene. In the modern
world, nerds and geeks and metrosexuals have become the new norm, and
the macho type isn’t disappearing, exactly, but isn’t as taken for
granted as it once was. Leonard and Hap are definitely macho, and their
bromance doesn’t fit the current definition of the word, finding a way
to display their feelings while not losing this identity.
As
a happy nerd myself, I never aspired to be the type of man they are,
but Raylan and Boyd on Justified, among others, taught me how cool that
type of character could be. HAP AND LEONARD is and are cool in almost
every sense of the word.
Yet, they are flawed, complex men, too. There’s a lot more going on with both than what is immediately apparent on the surface.
The
story of HAP AND LEONARD begins when Trudy (Christina Hendricks, Mad
Men), an ex of Hap’s that Leonard does not like, shows up and offers
them a get-rich job. Since they are both out of work and could use the
money, they accept, Leonard a heck of a lot more reluctantly than Hap.
They’ll have six episodes to get the work done, and viewers will have to
wait awhile to see if Trudy and her most recent guy, Howard (Bill Sage,
Nurse Jackie), are trustworthy.
I
can honestly say, I don’t care if they succeed. I think I could greatly
enjoy the run with or without a pot of gold at the end. For me, it’s all
about the chemistry between Purefoy and Williams, and that’s enough. I
enjoy the dialogue and the interplay between them. I like seeing Leonard
open up to Hap and be protective of him. I like seeing Hap return the
favor with Leonard’s homophobic uncle (Henry G. Sanders, Dr. Quinn
Medicine Woman).
The fact that
Leonard is gay is pretty much an afterthought, not a driving plot point,
reinforcing the themes mentioned above, and seems so where Hap is
concerned, too. Williams has already proven he can buck the stereotype
on The Wire, and he does it again here. It’s extremely important to have
a variety of homosexual role models on television, and it’s nice HAP
AND LEONARD chooses to give us someone as realistic and relatable as
Leonard.
HAP AND LEONARD is a period
piece that doesn’t feel like one. It’s set in the late 1980s, but aside
from the guys not having cell phones, I couldn’t really tell. The
setting is one in which you wouldn’t expect to see the latest gadgets or
automobiles. It just feels like an authentic place that would resist
changing with the times, and I appreciate that.
HAP AND LEONARD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Sundance.
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