Article first published as GAME OF SILENCE Review on Seat42F.
NBC’s latest drama, GAME OF SILENCE, is
based on a Turkish show. Four best friends went through a traumatic
experience in their childhood that changed everything for them. Now, as
adults, they remain scarred by their experience, and at least one of
them would like to do something about it. Are they getting in over their
heads?
Honestly, I don’t like GAME OF SILENCE
very much. The story is somewhat interesting and seems constructed well
enough. They cast is fine. Events are over the top to the point where
they don’t seem believable, but one could say the same about most
television shows. Superficially, it seems like a good premise. So what
is it that doesn’t sit right with me?
Well, for one, the characters are a
little flat. The central protagonist is Jackson Brooks (David Lyons,
Revolution), who has left the old neighborhood behind to become a
lawyer. Everything is going right in his life before the others come
back, engaged to an intelligent, beautiful woman (Claire van der Boom,
Hawaii Five-O) and about to make partner, a very tired set up. Yet,
while Jackson resists giving that up when his buddies ask for his help,
he doesn’t exactly stay out of things. Why did he try so hard to leave
in the first place if he wasn’t going to stay out?
There is a girl the group looked out
for, Jessie (Bre Blair, Last Vegas), whom Jackson used to have a thing
for. Now, Jessie is with someone else, but that feels false, too. It
seems like TV programs always have to force a love triangle, and this
one feels particularly strained, given who her current partner is. How
many folks in real life break up with one person and then start dating
their friend? It doesn’t seem such a common occurrence, and I struggle
to comprehend why the characters in GAME OF SILENCE felt this would be
OK. The formula is sometimes acceptable when the story justifies it
enough or there are fitting distractions from it, but that is not the
case this time.
The other players are even more
underdeveloped, at least at the start. Jackson’s gang, which includes
Gil (Michael Raymond-James, True Blood), Boots (Derek Phillips, Friday
Night Lights), and Shawn (Larenz Tate, House of Lies), all appear to be
one-note, despite the fact that they are all played by recognizable
faces from quality shows. Viewers are shown what the guys want, but not
why exactly, and while to some degree that is being saved for frequent
flashbacks, more could easily be done to differentiate their
personalities and motivations than is present.
GAME OF SILENCE feels a lot like a
number of films and miniseries from the past few decades. Some kids got
into trouble, and then it comes back to bite them. From It to Mystic
River, the main premise has been done before at a higher quality level.
Why make something that so obviously invites comparisons if it’s not
going to stand up to the level of what’s come before it?
That’s probably my biggest problem with
GAME OF SILENCE. It just doesn’t feel fresh and exciting. It’s almost
like I’ve already seen it before, even though I know I haven’t. It
relies far too much on the familiar and the cliché, rather than building
a world that viewers can get lost in. With the steep competition on the
airwaves today, it’s got to do better than this to stand out. I applaud
NBC for making something that’s not just another crime drama, but am
disappointed by the lack of creativity that went into something like
this.
GAME OF SILENCE premieres Tuesday, April 12 at 10/9c on NBC.
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