(October
2nd, 2007. - Editor)
Lloyd Owen (Miss
Potter), Madchen Amick (Twin Peaks), P.J. Byrne
(The Game), Carter Jenkins (Surface), Eric
Winter (Wildfire), Ellen Woglom, D.B. Woodside
(24) star and Melanie Griffith (Twins)
and Hugh Jackman (The Prestige) guest star, in the one hour drama series
Viva Laughlin, airing Sundays on CBS.
Adapted from the
critically acclaimed British miniseries "Viva Blackpool.",
irrepressible entrepreneur Ripley Holden (Owen) has a dream: He wants to open a
casino in Laughlin, Nev. His mad vision starts to come up craps,
however, when the body of his ex-business partner is found at his club,
sparking a murder investigation interrupted every now and then by
contemporary musical numbers that advance the story and sometimes
comment on the action. Even at home, Ripley faces pressures from
Natalie, his frustrated wife; Cheyenne, his rebellious teenage daughter
who seeks Ripley's approval; and son Jack, who desperately wants to work
with his dad.
This hard-hitting drama would easily find
an audience based on the conflict between the characters, the lights,
the gambling and a murder mystery thrown in for extra flavor. But they
have to stop singing. Every time one of the lead characters breaks out
of the scene to deliver a Broadway-style show tune, or worse a bad cover
version of an old rock song, they are taking the audience out of the
moment and throwing a horrible distraction into what is otherwise a
pretty good story. If the viewer endures that for three to five minutes,
the plot once again offers great character drama, right up until the
next song. My only relief is that the expensive production values needed
to stage three or four songs an episode should have this drama settling
down into a more standard format, with a lot less singing, soon. And
that will be very good for this show, as there is plenty to like about
it once the music stops.
From the first moment he is on the screen, leading actor Lloyd Owen is
completely convincing as soon to be casino owner Ripley Holden. I can't
explain why, but I was rooting for the guy a couple of minutes in to the
pilot episode. He just seems to be the kind of guy that would be right
to run a casino. The kind of guy that might make his place a little more
fun, a little brighter and maybe even a little bit luckier than the
other casinos in town. He's also the kind of guy who is willing to take
risks and fight to get what he wants and the audience is going to like
that about him.
I am disappointed to see that guest stars Melanie Griffith and Hugh
Jackman are not slated as permanent members of the cast. Both actors
give us characters that we just know can get up to a lot of bad stuff.
And I for one am waiting to see who is going to do what to whom. It
would a let-down if these great character were to disappear after a few
episodes. For every hero, there has to be a bad guy. Otherwise, what's
the point. This series has a great hero, who risks everything he owns
and everything he is dreaming of owning in the pilot episode, by
challenging his biggest rival in the man's own casino in order to raise
the money to open up a place that will compete against him. Now that's
drama.
I could be wrong about the musical numbers. Maybe they will bring an
additional audience to this series that would never have shown an
interest otherwise. It's not my thing, but it might be someone's thing.
If there is more of the same in episode two and forward, you will know I
was wrong about the music. But this drama is strong enough to stay on
the air either way.
-- Editor --
