Movies have changed over the years. In their earliest form
they depicted the hero as a rough and ready customer who was out to save the
world or at least some portion of it. When censorship rules eased up we
suddenly had the anti-hero, a person who was flawed to a large extent but who
did the right thing in the end, sometimes unwillingly for the right reasons. It
seems that these days we have a combination of the two making its way into
movies. Such is the case with TRUE
DETECTIVE.
TRUE DETECTIVE is a new
series on HBO and has just been released on DVD.
Word has it that the series will continue with a different story to tell using
new characters each season. That bodes well for viewers since it allows some
great actors to make their way into stories that take more than 2 hours to tell
and gives them free rein to do their best. That happens here with both Woody
Harrelson and Mathew McConaughey.
The duo star as Louisiana State Police detectives called in
to investigate strange murder. The body of a young woman has been found tied to
a tree in the middle of a field, a crown made of antlers on her head, stab
wound to her body and strangled. Around the body are tripod type sculptures
made of twigs giving it the appearance of a satanic ritual. While the murder
forms the center piece of the series, it isn't exactly what the show is about.
It's more about the two detectives investigating the murder as well as others
that tie into it.
The tale unfolds jumping back and forth in time, from the
initial investigation in the late 1990s to a new investigation taking place in
2012. Both Det. Marty Hart (Harrelson) and Det. Rusty Cohle are being
interrogated by two current State Police detectives but we have no idea why.
These two men are far different than the ones who did the initial
investigation. Marty now owns a security company and Rusty, well, no one knows
where he's been. As the new detectives question them and get their stories, we
learn what happened. By episode five all of that changes and suddenly we're
caught up and trying to find out just how much was real and why things went the
way they did.
Marty is a pretty straight forward type detective. He covers
the scene, looks for clues and runs the evidence with the hope of catching the
killer. We get glimpses of Marty as a stand up family man who in reality has a
girlfriend on the side. He loves his family and yet finds himself often arguing
with his wife instead of being there for them. This is the flawed hero, a man
who wants to do what is right yet continues to make mistakes that affect all
around him.
Rusty handles things in a more unusual way. Prone to
offering philosophic quotes and metaphysical observations on the world, he
views things his own way. We get the idea that this stems from his years as an
undercover agent investigating drug rings which led to usage of their product.
But it's not just that. There is much more to Rusty than drugs or alcohol. His
family past is troubled to say the least and the time undercover did take its
toll. But Rusty is the one of the pair that truly wants to find the truth. His
search for the truth is what pushes them forward in the past and in the
present.
The film depicts the boys of the south as both sophisticated
in some instances and backwoods yokels at other times. Neither one is
condescending to the south and appears to represent the various extremes of one
end to the other well. There are people that fit both of these types. The thing
is discovering which ones are the truly terrible and which are honest. Don't be
surprised to find that members of both classes fit both good and bad.
The thing that makes this series work though is a
combination of elements that blend together to perfection. The work of both
leads is fantastic with an unwrapping of layer after layer of their
personalities that gives us a glimpse into who they are. Those glimpses give us
a depth of character that a 2 hour film would not allow. Both actors are up to
the task and turn in great performances.
The direction and storytelling are above par as well. The
story unfolds in time, moving along at a snails pace but never feeling like it
is. Instead it allows the story to percolate to a boil by the end episode. We
get a few clues here and there that allow us to perhaps figure out the result,
but never so intrusive as to harm the story being told. And in a world where
there are not always black and white heroes and villains, this movie offers us
a chance to see those grays come into focus to give us those two distinct
colors (or lack of) when depicting the detectives and the killer. No poor
victim murderer is found here. Instead there is pure evil. The way that is put
together here makes for a great series.
Not having HBO this makes me look forward to their next
season and its release on DVD. Perhaps it's
better to watch something like this binge fashion where you get the opportunity
to watch from start to finish. If you wondered, yes it does include the usual
requirement for a made for pay cable series i.e. gratuitous nudity. But if you
can get past that you're in for a treat when watching this, if for nothing else
than the performance of both lead actors. This one is worth watching.
Click here to order.
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