Viewers, unless they're from a certain part of the world, will need closed captioning. Though the collision of West African/Caribbean/Etcetera accent(s) does become accessible after a couple episodes . . . which is all that are available right now.
The series has gotten lots of criticism for its complex plot structure. Unfair.
Director Steven Soderbergh has the proverbial tendency to take a linear story arc and turn it into the Gordian Knot of incomprehensibility. Full Circle is an exception, for now.
And if y'all will put down the iPhone; turn off the laptop; and toss the iPad back in it's case for 40 minutes at a time, it's a show which is easy to follow. It just requires an attention span longer than that of your Adderall-addicted Millennial, or narcissistic Gen Z doofus.
To whit.
CCH Pounder, who has packed on the pounders, is Savitri Hahabir, a crime boss in Queens who hails from . . . well, it ain't clear. She has a vendetta against Quincy, another Queen's mobster. He has just bumped off Savitri's brother-in-law.
In typical Soderbergh fashion, a contract is not put out on Quincy's life. Nah.
Instead, Savitri tears herself away from the funeral catering and brings two Guyanan hipsters to Queens to kidnap the son of Claire Danes and Timothy Olyphant. The young lad will be executed to lift the curse from Savitri's family, which long ago murdered the grandson of yet another Queen's low-life gangster, and just to prove this IS a Soderbergh movie. The gangster is NOT Quincy; is not in Quincy's gang; and might not even know Quincy.
How this will solve Savitri's initial problem of the dead Brother-in-Law is anyone's guess. But, honestly, it's not that hard to follow along. A van (No. It doesn't look suspicious following the potential kidnap victim around everywhere) full of four of the stupidest criminals on the planet tries their best NOT to snatch a 125 pound high school freshman.
Only two episodes have dropped, and Soderbergh can still invoke his usual rule of making sure the audience is exhausted from following the action, but so far so good.
A few casting notes. Olyphant and Danes are the husband and wife of the kidnap victim, an annoying offspring played by Lucien Zanes. You're actually rooting for the moronic criminals to take the kid out, he's such a spoiled, entitled Manhattanite.
The issue with the coupling of his Mom and Dad (Maybe this is the problem. Cue the therapists.) is Timothy is playing the Winner of the Beta Male of the Decade award and Claire looks more and more like a man every year. Hard to tell who's wearing the pants in that family.
There is also the obligatory Lesbian couple, and two more useless characters I cannot imagine. That is until Jim Gaffigan showed up and littered a scene with his one-dimensional performance of the world's worst boss.
Dennis Quaid, replete with ponytail, plays Dane's father. Happy Anderson, just off a great turn as a deaf hitman in Maggie Moore(s) lends some testosterone to a show in need of plenty . . . save for Dane's contributions.
Full Circle is worth 120 minutes of your time.
Feedback encouraged.
Prime and MAX
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