The Big C (2010-2013)

Director: Michael Engler                                Writer: Darlene Hunt & Jenny Bicks
Music: Marcello Zarvos                                 Cinematography: John Thomas
Starring: Laura Linney, Oliver Platt, Gabriel Basso and John Benjamin Hickey

This Showtime series was like a breath of fresh air when it premiered three years ago. Laura Linney, one of my absolute favorite actresses, was perfect for the role, especially after having already died of cancer twice in The Other Man and The Life of David Gale. She has a sense of humor and a natural quality that made The Big C one of the best series I’ve ever seen. Produced as it was, by Showtime, it also didn’t have to operate under the constrictions of network television censors and could deal with the topic in a realistic way. There were ups and downs during the seasons that left some fans disappointed, but taken as a whole it is a tremendously successful program that benefited from great writing and direction, and wonderful acting. The series begins with Linney learning that she has stage four cancer and her first major decision is that she doesn’t want anyone to know, primarily because she doesn’t want to be burdened with everyone else’s reactions.

The first season introduces the audience to Linney’s husband, Oliver Platt, who plays an impulsive man that she has had to shepherd along her entire marriage. With her diagnosis she has no time for his juvenile behavior now and promptly kicks him out of the house. This, of course, angers her son, Gabriel Basso, who blames her for the breakup. Linney plays a high school history teacher who is in the middle of summer school and takes on a rebellious teen in her class, Gabourey Sidibe, and attempts to help her straighten her life out. At the same time she is dealing with cranky neighbor Phyllis Somerville and school custodian, Idris Elba, whom she has an affair with, prompting her to make a bucket list. Through it all her only confidant is her young oncologist, Reid Scott, who winds up learning along with her. One of the unexpected benefits of Linney in the lead role was undoubtedly her ability to get Liam Neeson to guest star in one program, leading to other big stars appearing in the series.

Season two has Linney now deciding to undergo treatment, something she wasn’t going to do during the first season. A new clinical trial is being run by Alan Alda, a cancer specialist who does a nice job appearing at various times during the last three seasons. At the trials she meets Hugh Dancy, and develops a heart-breaking relationship with him. One of the highlights of the show is also the work of John Benjamin Hickey, who is brilliant as Linney’s homeless brother. Subplots expand exponentially this season with Sidibe being proposed to by Boyd Holbrook, Hickey falling in love with Cynthia Nixon, and Basso befriending Parker Posey. This is perhaps the darkest season, with several threads in the subplots dealing with death and keeping Linney’s mortality front and center for her, especially in the finale.

Season three has been the most disappointing for fans, primarily because it seems to be all over the place. But despite the emphasis on Platt’s character, who becomes so obsessed with his own ego that it threatens to tear the family apart, there is still a lot to recommend it, especially on repeat viewings. To replace the emptiness that she feels with Platt’s emotional absence, Linney decides to adopt a baby and finds the going extremely rough. But the grim resolution to that subplot is incredibly satisfying. Basso finds Jesus and an unexpected sexual bonanza in the process, while Hickey takes things to another level by becoming a gay, phone sex operator. Meanwhile Platt’s blog has brought him to the attention of self-help guru Susan Sarandon, which ultimately brings the whole family to Puerto Rico and the worst possible news to Linney.

Season four, while only four episodes, is actually on par with the rest of the seasons. The first three seasons were comprised of half hour episodes, with more of an emphasis on the comedy. But the final season focuses on the drama, expanding all four episodes to an hour. It’s an extremely moving final season, with special guest appearances by none other than Isaac Mizrahi. For fans of Laura Linney this is a must see program, but there is so much more to enjoy. Platt’s character is infuriating through most of the series, as is Basso’s, but that’s intentional. It’s difficult to imagine a less humorous subject matter for a situation comedy, but series creator and chief writer Darlene Hunt is masterful and her balance between humor and pathos is perfect. The Big C is over now, but everyone who enjoys intelligent and entertaining television should definitely pick this up on DVD. It’s that good.

Mildred Pierce (2011)

Directors: Todd Haynes                                 Writer: Todd Haynes & Jon Raymond
Film Score: Carter Burwell                             Cinematography: Edward Lachman
Starring: Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Mare Winningham and Morgan Turner

HBO has done some incredible work over the last decade in producing films, but one of their greatest undertakings has been a new kind of miniseries. One of the most powerful is Band of Brothers, based on the book by Steven Ambrose that follows one company of the 101st Airborne from D-Day through VE Day. It was co-produced by Tom Hanks who also co-produced another great series, From Earth to the Moon, chronicling the space race. Arguably their most popular success has been John Adams which featured Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. But besides fascinating non-fiction, HBO has now begun filming classic novels in the same way that the BBC has been doing for decades. One of the first is Mildred Pierce from acclaimed American novelist James M. Cain.

Of course Mildred Pierce was filmed by Warner Brothers in 1945 by Michael Curtiz and won an Academy Award for Joan Crawford in the title role. But they turned Cain’s novel into more of a film noir. Writer-director Todd Haynes wanted to keep true to the original story and his five-part series does an excellent job of capturing the style of the book as well as the era. The Warner Brothers film was also set in the present, while the HBO series restores it to it’s Depression era milieu and did a tremendous job of recreating Los Angeles of the nineteen thirties. Kate Winslet was a terrific choice as the title character. She plays a housewife who has finally had enough of her husband’s cheating and kicks him out of the house. She also has two daughters, the youngest played by Quinn McColgan and the eldest played by Morgan Turner.

It turns out that giving her husband the boot is about the only time Mildred Pierce was able to do something positive for herself when it came to the people in her life. The worst abuser is her oldest daughter Vida. She is a snob and a brat and isn’t shy about letting her mother know how much she hates living in Glendale. But Mildred needs to make a living and works her way up from making pies to owning her own restaurant. This didn’t come without a price, however, as sleeping with one of her husband’s best friends is part of the deal. Later, when she falls in love with a down on his luck playboy she winds up syphoning money from her business to keep him, as well as her snooty daughter, in style. But Mildred trudges on, refusing to see how these people are using her and, even when she does realize it, not really caring.

Those expecting the same kind of noir sensibilities--and sensationalism--as the Warners film, will be disappointed. It’s a luxurious and unhurried series that captures not only the drama in her life, but the atmosphere as well. The scenes on the city streets feel a little cramped because of the necessity to avoid modern buildings, but the scenes in Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach are wonderfully open and pristine. Whether through specific locations or CGI it feels very authentic. Haynes has a nice, naturalistic style that lets the Cain’s characters reveal themselves rather than through camera manipulation. Carter Burwell is not my favorite composer, but he does an adequate job here. Mainly, however, it’s the actors. Guy Pearce is terrific as the gigolo, and the two actresses playing Vida are perfectly evil. The rest of the supporting cast is equally good. Mildred Pierce is not for everyone, but it’s a very nice piece of filmmaking that I enjoyed tremendously.