Vinyl

It has issues. It is slow in places, historically ridiculous in places (Robert Plant should sue). And at times I wondered if anyone who actually lived through this time in the music business was involved, or at least had enough brain cells left to really remember how things were to the level of being able to capture it properly. Sure, Mick Jagger is involved, but his viewpoint is from the other side, and who knows how stoned he was in 1973.

But it picked up. It got very interesting later in the pilot. Bobby Canavale is a great actor, and he carries the show well, but there are times I wonder what his motivations are. He smiles weirdly at odd things that happen, and he stares off into space a lot.

But my best guess as to what makes this work is writing by Terrence Winter. That, and Martin Scorsese, the best director that ever lived, directed the pilot, and his complete Mean Streets Taxi Driver Goodfellas genius is in full force here; I'm ready to hand him the emmy right now. So it is worth seeing at least this pilot episode. Sadly, he did not direct the other 10.

I did have to fast-forward a couple of times as it dragged. But something very strange happens near the end of the pilot, which was completely unexpected. Andrew Dice Clay also does a really great guest appearance, and he is nearly invisible. He had been on screen for half an hour before I figured out it was him, and really only recognized him from his voice. It is a scene very reminiscent of the firecracker scene in Boogie Nights.

There is a lot of humor here, because while primarily drama, Scorsese and Winter know how to infuse humor into drama and make it therefore more dramatic and realistic. There is also a wonderful shot, just of people's feet, during a struggle at one point that is just beyond brilliant.