 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| Work's a no-brainer / Shot in the head gives detective a rage to succeed |
If only we had his excuse. David Creegan is distracted
and impolite, cutting out of conversations the second he gets bored, reacting
rashly out of instinct rather than civility, idling inside his own head as
others prattle on around him. Doesn't have to worry what others think.
Indeed, he can't. Somebody shot him in the head, and his brain's behavioral
governors are kaput.
OK, maybe we don't want his excuse. But it's awfully appealing to be able
to act unhinged and have nobody say boo. USA cable's new series "Touching Evil"
echoes its network detective-mate "Monk" in centering on a lead character
who's more than a little off. Though it's adapted from the same-named British
series starring Robson Green, the American version acts up, and out, more.
Star Jeffrey Donovan (the other brother on "The Pretender") makes a
younger, rowdier, more rumpled federal detective. He's trying to settle back on
the job, months after touching death, bearing a new forehead scar (how handy:
Actor Donovan actually had one already) and a ruptured personality. "I lost a
big chunk of my brain," he tells his caught-off- guard new partner, Vera
Farmiga ("UC: Undercover"). "I lost certain faculties. No shame." No fear,
either.
So he can do just about anything, and does, which any detective devotee
knows means he's better at the job than everybody else. His furious new
intensity is applied to organized and serial crimes that seem unsolvable. But
he's no "Monk," a pained adult distanced from underlying tragedy by his show's
lighthearted, controlled and almost whimsical tone.
Donovan's Creegan is a dazed and confused powder keg with something
equivalent to adolescent hormones raging through him and primed to make him
pop. If Tony Shalhoub's Adrian Monk directs his agony into himself and his
work, a benign presence to the rest of us, Donovan's Creegan is hot on the hunt
for deserving victims - which means perpetrators - on whom to unload his
seething rage.
"Touching Evil" is as messy in every way as "Monk" is neat. The production
style reflects its protagonist, with bleak, fast-motion cityscapes (strangely
enough, the same city: San Francisco); dissonant, electro-percussive music; and
sudden shifts of attitude - all feature-quality atmosphere from director Allen
Hughes ("Dead Presidents"). Creegan's as likely to spit on a suspect as
question him. Sometimes he slips when referencing his shooting and subsequent
institutionalization, blathering about "why I was sent back," as if he's on
that "Blues Brothers" mission from God. He tends to show up on his ex-wife's
doorstep like a wet cat.
The character's ability to obsess is less an aptitude than a mania. His
first case back gets personal, of course, as Creegan tracks a child
kidnapper-killer who's one of those smug villains prone to toy with his
pursuers. Also crossing his path is another disturbed soul, who isn't happy
being sent back, either - from the 24th century. Creegan's heart oddly opens to
the latter as much as his fury turns on the former.
He isn't just a rule-breaker like "Baretta." He's unstable, Mel Gibson's
"Lethal Weapon" character taken a step beyond.
These first American "Touching Evil" episodes are being adapted from the
dank British stories. But Donovan lends an uninhibited lunacy that actually
brings humor to the darkness, whether it's nervous laughter or the startled
gasp of being slapped with the unexpected.
Maybe that shouldn't be a surprise with equally flippant "Moonlighting"
star Bruce Willis joining Hughes brothers Allen and Albert as the show's
executive producers. Co-star Farmiga manages to play off Donovan with an
unsettled intelligence and a big- sister caring that seems likely to head down
a "Moonlighting"-like road.
For comparison purposes, PBS' "Mystery!" import of "Touching Evil 3" is out
on DVD. That same 2001 short series returns to WLIW/21 March 27 at 9 p.m.
TOUCHING EVIL. Another damaged detective, but this one's no puppy dog. Jeffrey
Donovan stars in this dark Americanization of the British detective saga. Cable
series premieres at 9 tonight on USA Network; subsequent episodesat 10 p.m.
Fridays.
END
March, 2004 - article courtesy of NewsDay
|
|
| |
|
|
THURSDAYS
