Article first published as GRAVES Review on Seat42F.
Premium movie service Epix joins the
original scripted world this weekend with two new shows. One, a comedy,
is called GRAVES, and is about a fictional former Republican president
named Richard Graves. Twenty-five years after he served as the leader of the free world, Graves’
policies and decisions from the Oval Office come back to haunt him.
Realizing he has let his country down, and facing a legacy as the
possible worst president ever, Graves wakes up and decides to start
fighting for the American people once more.
President Richard Graves is a
conglomeration of a number of different Republican presidents. He held
office around the same time as George H.W. Bush, considered failed at
the time, though Bush’s reputation has improved in the interim, while
Graves has gone down. He is a gold standard for certain members of his
party, like H.W. has become, and like Reagan always has been. He also
shares the failed assassination attempt backstory with Reagan. President
Graves had the disastrous polices of George W. Bush, getting us into
unpopular wars and slashing spending on important research, while
ridiculously beefing up the military and tanking the economy. So he
isn’t any one of these real POTUSes (POTUSi?), but rather, a bunch of
them put together.
This is probably a wise move. It allows
Graves to be fictional and make decisions without worrying about what
the real men are and did, and also takes a realistic look at both the
positives and negatives of GOP administrations over the past few
decades. It’s an intriguing concept, especially when coupled with the
desire to make up for past mistakes that Graves now exhibits, and I
think Graves probably ends up being the ideal representative of the
traditional Grand Old Party by the end of episode one.
The title role is wonderfully portrayed
by Nick Nolte (Warrior, Luck, Gracepoint), who captures a layered,
authentic man. Graves is a total asshole to those around him, hazing his
new assistant, Isaiah Miller (Skylar Astin, Pitch Perfect, Ground
Floor), ignoring the political aspirations of his wife, Margaret (Sela
Ward, CSI: NY, Gone Girl), and destroying property that is only sort of
his. But even in the pilot, Nolte is allowed a few moments to show the
raw vulnerability, the compassionate side of the man, and exhibit that
he does care about more than just himself, even when he lets down his
loved ones. It’s a very interesting performance, and I liked it a lot.
To more fully flesh out the story, and
also likely to add subplot drama, we are introduced to Graves’ daughter,
Olivia (Helene Yorke, Masters of Sex), who shares many of her father’s
negative qualities, and is going through something devastating herself. I
really don’t know how Margaret will balance two break-downs at once
while furthering her own agenda, but Olivia is more an obstacle than
anything else right now.
Also in the cast are a number of
enjoyable actors like Roger Bart (Episodes, The Producers), Ernie Hudson
(Ghostbusters), Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Tania Gunadi
(Enlisted), Khotan Fernandez (Royal Pains, El Sexo Debil), Angelica
Maria (Que bonito amor), Callie Hernandez (Alien: Covenant), and Chris
Lowell (Veronica Mars) as the as-of-yet-unseen son of President Graves.
All of these actors and the promising
story are enough to get past my early distaste. GRAVES makes the grave
(pun intended) error of beginning with some real political cameos, chief
among them that of Rudy Giuliani. True, Graves isn’t thrilled with
these guys, but he treats Giuliani nicer than most, and after recent
polarizing press appearances, seeing Giuliani in this comedy context is
likely to turn off many potential viewers. Hopefully, most will chalk it
up to a decision made some time ago and look past it, because the rest
of the pilot was worth watching. There are others that appear, but none
nearly as offensive as the former mayor.
GRAVES premieres tonight on Epix, and viewers can check out the first two episodes free now on Epix’s website.
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