Rake - Series Premiere - Review - Serial Killer

Tonight, FOX aired the series premiere of their remake of the Australian legal comedy Rake, starring Greg Kinnear as scummy defense lawyer Keegan Deane. Keegan is a philandering, hard-drinking, lying jerk, but there's a melty heart of gold in there. This premiere episode is promising!

Plot

John Rake (I've decided that this is the main character's name even though it's actually Keegan Deane) is in a bar viewing a thrilling match of ball-tosses sports-em-up when things go all topsy for him. A (rather physical) threat from a mob enforcer, a wink from a girl across the bar, then a whirlwind all-night party time. Gambling, drinks, stumbling to a buddy's sofa drunk at dawn. From here, there's a whole list of bad things that happen to the guy. IN FACT. An Incomplete List Of All The Bad Things That Happen To The Main Character In Rake During The Premiere

• Beaten up by a loan shark's muscle
• Wins poker against a guy who can't pay
• Gets in trouble with his pal's wife for coming home drunk and with a lady
• Takes on a guilty plea court appearance as a favor to a friend only to have the serial killer plead not guilty
• Gets pulled over and has his driver's license revoked
• Runs out of time with his weekly scheduled prostitute
• Loses money on a black market fish
• Get rear-ended in his ex-wife's car

So as you can see, it's quite a wacky show. It's very entertaining! Think of it like a Law & Order-style legal procedural, but the slick lawyer is replaced by a total sleaze and the deadly serious tone is light and clever. It's very fun to watch, and has more in common with Psych than with most lawyer shows.

Look & Feel

This premiere episode was directed by Sam Raimi, but you wouldn't be able to tell. Raimi is rarely so tame, not even in the mass-market of superhero action. Usually, the director has a very distinctive was of framing shots and handling cuts. This episode... just didn't feel special. It looked fine, and the light amount of music was about what was needed, but with a stunty move like having "Directed by Sam Raimi" right in the opening credits, I had much higher expectations. Could've done better

Overall

I liked it! A good series premiere, with the promise of the show being good. It was funny and clever, with likable characters and a wide-open premise. The case Deane was working had enough twists to keep my interest, and he hinted at having more compassion and cleverness than he'd like anyone to know. I'm not sure if it is the sort of show I want to follow week-to-week, but I could imagine catching up on Netflix someday. Anyway, I recommend this first episode, and you can see a preview for the series right here!