Piper's Perspective DVD Review: Leverage - The 1st Season

Posted by Ben Piper on 07.14.2009

"Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get."

Timothy Hutton: Nathan Ford
Gina Bellman: Sophie Devereaux
Christian Kane: Eliot Spencer
Beth Riesgraf: Parker
Aldis Hodge: Alec Hardison

Created by Chris Downey & John Rogers
Not Rated- 584 Minutes




Leverage was a hit for the basic cable network TNT earlier this year. It’s a mix of Ocean’s Eleven meets The A-Team as a collective of con artists and thieves work together to take down corrupt corporations and individuals that do injustice to ordinary law-abiding citizens. The complete first season arrives on DVD in a four-disc set July 14th.

The Show

Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, a former insurance investigator that specialized in exposing scams and recovering high priced stolen property. As a result of his work he is an expert in about all con jobs known to man, as well as the criminals that perpetrate these endeavors. However, Nate winds up falling from grace when the insurance company he works for refuses to pay for his deathly ill little boy’s medical treatment. As a result, the child dies, his marriage falls apart, and he turns to alcohol to drown his sorrows as his world crumbles around him.

Some time after that, he is approached by a CEO for a one-off job; oversee three criminals that he has had previous encounters with who are notorious for working alone and not getting along with others, and steal back industrial plans that had been stolen from the CEO’s company previously. Ford was approached to head up the job because he is an honest man, and will be able to ensure that the three criminals won’t double-cross one another or the man that hired them. The job all goes according to plan, but when it comes time for this impromptu team to be paid? They are all double-crossed and an attempt on their lives takes place. That, and they realize that they were working for the wrong side all along.

All of them feel wronged for differing personal reasons by this treachery, and it is Nate that hatches a plan to get back at those that wronged them. In order to bring said plan to fruition, Ford contacts a fifth member to join the team.

After getting their due payback, (and a sizable payday to boot) instead of disbanding as they initially agreed to do, the members of the team realize that they never had as much fun in their professional lives as they did in this one job working with one another. They all make a tacit agreement; the honest man, Nathan Ford is in charge. He will choose the cases they take, and it will never be for their own personal or monetary gain. (well, Nathan makes that last choice for them, otherwise he won’t take part in it) They will provide Leverage for the little person that has none in the face of great adversities.



Timothy Hutton does solid work as the lead actor. When Nathan Ford’s drinking begins to become a problem that jeopardizes the team, Hutton infuses the character with the right amount of world-weariness and depth of sadness while maintaining the vestige of a functioning alcoholic doing a job really well despite his illness. His character is basically the centerpiece of the ensemble, and he knows it. As such, he grounds his performance as close as he possibly can to reality, given the situations the show presents and allowing the rest of the cast to grow on us individually and shine in their own right as a result.

But then he also takes part in the countless schemes that he hatches during the course of this first series of episodes. He not only plans things, he takes part and makes up several wildly divergent characters as a result. Rather effectively I might add.

The female lead is played by Gina Bellman. (perhaps best known for her role on the BBC series Coupling.) Here she plays Sophie Devereaux, a really bad amateur stage actress. But as Nate explains to his colleagues “this is not her stage”. You see, Sophie is a master grifter, more than capable of switching between accents and personas at a moment’s notice. She and Nate have played cat and mouse for ten years, literally. She is brought in as the final fifth member, and she winds up being the “face” of most of the scams that the team pulls of as a result.

It also quickly becomes quite apparent that she truly cares deeply for Nate. While he approaches their new working relationship as a strictly professional one, she might have other aspirations in mind, if only he’d stop with all the drinking all the time. Bellman walks a fine line in dealing with this relationship, for while she harbors tender feelings for her new workmate, she knows enough to know a damaged soul when she sees one. She allows herself to get close, close enough to let him know that she’s there, but she walks a line without ever crossing it. Not until he starts taking care of himself again. This facet comes up egregiously in later episodes.



Christian Kane is great in the supporting role of Eliot Spencer, the team’s “recovery specialist”. That’s slang for resident bad-ass tough guy. Fans of Kane’s work on Angel can attest to the man’s talents, but in this role he brings a smoldering kind of intensity which the ladies will surely love. While this character’s backstory is the least filled-in of any of the regulars, it actually works for him, as for when we are given glimpses of his past, either through dialogue or visual flashbacks they can be taken so out of context it’s both funny and intriguing all at once.

Beth Riesgraf personifies Parker, (no first name is ever given, she’s simply referred to with a one word moniker all throughout) the team’s expert thief. Described by Nate Ford before we ever meet her as “insane”, she is a character full of quirks. She’s cute, blonde, and can be downright perky when presented with the right type of outside stimuli, but she’s anti-social to the core. She’s more than capable when it comes to breaking into impenetrable high security buildings but when she is forced to deal with ordinary people? Awkward comedy ensues. I’m usually not a fan of that sort of thing but here it flies, in that she bluntly says the most inappropriate non-sugar coated things to people that need that spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Ms. Riesgraf hasn’t ever flown past my radar before watching Leverage, so I can honestly say that she’s an actress to watch in my own eyes, at the very least. She takes a character that could easily become a caricature, and layers it with the right amounts of pathos, quirkiness and humanity to make her believable.

Rounding out the team is Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison. Again, I wasn’t familiar with the man’s work before watching this series, but he is just awesome playing the part. First off, his inclusion simultaneously takes two typical stereotypes (the token African American amongst a team of Caucasians, plus the high tech-geek popular in espionage series such as this) and turns them both on their ear. Hardison isn’t the typical black man role in this type of show. If it were, he’d be the bad-ass. Instead, he is the team’s computer hacker/tech-expert. And he merges these two seemingly knee-jerk reactionary disparate halves and makes them a well-rounded whole. Sure, he comes off as pure comic-relief at times, but it is never at the expense of his own character. (okay, sometimes it does, seeing as he IS a geek after all, and loves his Star Trek and Doctor Who as much as the next guy). He rides a line that is never cookie-cutter. He comes off as anything but a stereotype. He has his own kind of comical edge to him, (Dude is quick and great with the one-liners) but he’s not just reading the words off of the written page. He owns the role. Again, he infuses what could have been a pure “comic-relief” part with the right amount of humanity and over-extended ego to make it work, and be believable.



The way that the concept is set up is at once quite concise but also brilliant in it’s own right, in that each individual has their specific role to play. Hutton is the mastermind, in that his character has seen everything under the sun and is able to quickly construct a plan on the fly as a result. He’s spent his life as the protector against the scam artist or the thief. He knows all their tricks. He knows how to use them, how to set them all up, and how to make them pay off. The fact that he is now working on the other side of the equation and breaking the law while still doing good for the little guy provides a bit of sustenance for his psyche, and allows him to somehow move on in his life, despite the fact that he’s been emotionally crippled by the loss of his son.

Bellman’s role as Sophie simultaneously acts as his enabler and his conscience. While she plays along, she clearly worries for this man that was once at the very tip-top of the game. Their “will they or won’t they” is the main character-centric storyarch centerpiece throughout the series, but it plays out in such an original and untypical way. She clearly has a thing for him, and is smitten. But she clearly sees that he’s too damaged at this point in time to try to act upon it. Instead, she stays by his side, helps him with his various do-gooder scams, and is constantly in his ear with regards to cleaning his act up.

While this is a scam-of-the-week type of show, which features a great variance with regards to scope in terms of said con jobs, (one week they take on a mob figure, the next, a Haliburton-type military contracter to the finale, in which they try to steal a priceless maquette of Michelangelo’s statue of David) I’ve instead focused this review on the characters. For that is what makes this show truly fly.

While Nate and Sophie continue their cat and mouse game, now on an seemingly elevated emotional level, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, and Aldis Hodge all are in top form. What makes this show truly work for me is the main character interactions. When they first begin, they truly cannot stand one another. As the episodes progress, mutual respect begins to rear it’s head. But they still don’t like one another. As things push on further, they still really don’t like each other, but now they are no longer in complete dislike as they’ve all settled into the notion that for all their differences in personality and opinions, they’ve become a bit of a dysfunctional family.

Leverage is a fun, entertaining show that never comes off as heavy handed or takes itself too seriously. Light in tone and infused with terrific character-driven humor, this DVD set is well worth the investment if you’re familiar with the show or are new to it. I watched all of the episodes when they initially aired and seeing them for a second time did not dilute my enjoyment a bit. There’s a lot of depth present all throughout, be it the characters, their interactions, the stakes at play, the acting, et al. It’s a truly underrated show in my eyes, and you would be well advised to seek this out, as it is good quality entertainment.



Score: 8.0

Visual

Presented in Widescreen Format. I apologize for not being any more specific than that but that is what was listed on the box cover, and any efforts I made further on the net research-wise bore no fruit. I’d guess 1.78:1 ratio-wise. What I can say is that while for the most part the picture is crisp and clear, there are instances here and there where the transfer comes off as grainy. It doesn’t happen often, but enough that you notice when it does. It’s few and far between, but it’s there.

Score: 7.0

Audio

Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. (English Only) Any gripes about the visual aspect is more than made up for here. In a dialogue driven show such as this, in which much exposition is quickly posited in order for the viewer to know what is going on, everything comes through delightfully. While in this aspect of this DVD set may lack in options (No foreign languages either dubbed or in subtitles) I’m not personally put out by that. I chalk this up to the fact that the show was only a moderate hit and that it only ever aired in the U.S. and Canada, to the best of my knowledge.

Score: 9.0

Extras

Commentary Tracks: Each of the thirteen episodes included receives it’s own commentary track. The stalwarts throughout are executive producers and show co-creators Chris Downey and John Rogers as they take part in each and every one. They are joined on a rotating basis (depending on which individual was directly involved in any given episode) by executive producer and director Dean Devlin; Jonathan Frakes, director; Albert Kim, writer; Tony Bill, director; Amy Berg, producer and writer; Rob Minkoff, director; Christine Boylan, writer; Arvin Brown, director; Melissa Glenn & Jessica Rieder, writers; Craig R. Baxley, director; Marc Roskin, director; Rebecca Kirsch, writer; and director Rod Hardy.

Whew, got all that? My only minor complaint is that none of the main actors ever take part in these commentaries, as it is relegated to exclusively behind the scenes creative folk. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, I just was hoping to hear the actor’s perspective here and there.

But what is presented is good stuff all around. While it can come off as boring from time to time, (it’s 584 minutes of non-stop commentary, there’s bound to be lulls) it is always informative and provides new insights into the situations presented and the character’s motivations for acting the way that they do. Examples: Parker’s anti-social behavior is due to her suffering from a mild case of Asberger’s Disease. Also, it’s interesting to hear how the writers inadvertently wrote themselves into a corner at certain occaisions, and how they somehow found a believable way out.

Leverage: Behind The Scenes: (12:40) A typical behind the scenes segment. Exec producer Dean Devlin begins the segment by explaining the concept. The show’s co-creators say that no one was doing a heist show in a way that they thought was attractive, and saw a niche to fill. We learn that all the cons featured on the show are based upon real life ones. We are then introduced to the show’s technical advisor, Apollo Robbins; a professional yet honest thief. A “white hat” as he refers to himself. Devlin puts Robbins over as “a walking encyclopedia of crime” and the rest of the cast concurs, explaining how helpful this man was to making the show more realistic. Devlin goes on to discuss the casting process for the main cast and going over all the main characters and the actors who play them. It’s fluff, but enjoyable.

Anatomy of a Stunt Fight: (3:23) This is a behind the scenes look at a fight sequence between Christian Kane and stuntman Clay Crawford (The two are close friends in real life). We see them planning and going over the moves. Kane explains that it will be a four-part fight, and goes over all four parts. Kane and Crawford show the moves at half speed for this segment before we are shown them being performed at full speed for the show. Kane likens it to a dance, in that it’s all planned and choreographed beforehand. Brief, but enjoyable.

The Cameras Of Leverage: (2:14) This one’s kind of weird. This segment shows all of the different high-tech cameras that were used in the filming of the series. From stedi-cams to crane-cams to hand-helds. And while the cameras are visually impressive from a layman’s standpoint, this segment is all show and no tell. An explanation of what these cameras were and why they were so special and what they actually did that makes them so damned impressive would have been appreciated. It’s just a bunch of shots of different cameras. Whoop.

Leverage Gets Renewed: (2:52) This one’s fun. The show’s writers and producers as well as Beth Riesgraf and Ardis Hodge are assembled in a room under the auspices that it is to be a media conference call. Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman and Christian Kane are present via webcam as they are all elsewhere. As it turns out, it was all a ruse to assemble the team to let them know that the show was picked up for a second season. Fun simply for the honest reactions that the announcement brings forth. Funnily enough, the computer that Hutton can be seen on freezes the second the announcement is made. The segment ends with Aldis Hodge handing his cell phone over to Dean Devlin so he can tell the actor’s mother the good news.

Beth Riesgraf’s Crazy Actress Spoof: (5:02) This is basically an internet viral video for ifmagazine.com… It starts with Dean Devlin explaining that when a show begins to have multiple seasons that the actors want to have more of a voice in regards to how their characters develop over time. What ensues is Beth Riesgraf showing up, acting like a diva, and making all kinds of outrageous character demands. Completely over the top, but it does elicit a few laughs such as co-creator John Rogers openly drinking from a whisky bottle as he listens to all her inane ideas.

Deleted Scenes: This is covered across all four disks and runs the gamut. There’s deleted scenes cut for time, extended scenes, alternate takes, & bloopers. One flashback scene runs twice, as it was originally part of the first episode but brought back again later on when it didn’t make the original cut, only wind up on the floor again. The alternate takes with Aldis Hodge seemingly improvising the same scene multiple times are golden.

It’s the commentary tracks that help elevate the final score of this section of the review…

Score: 8.0

Show: 8.0
Visual: 7.0
Audio: 9.0
Extras: 8.0

The 411: Leverage is a fun, entertaining show that holds up under multiple viewings. While it basically amounts to a heist of the week type of endeavor, it is greatly elevated by fully developed characters and outstanding actors bringing them to life. There’s a lot of humor, twists and unexpected turns, as well as a fair amount of heart. By the end of this first season, I was fully invested and wanted more. Good stuff.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]