Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The People vs. OJ Simpson

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The People vs. OJ Simpson

    Ryan Murphy's new serialized TV program, following the approach of American Horror Story, debuted this week. It's officially called The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story. Based on his previous work and the casting and photos of the actors in their characters (David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian! Cuba Gooding, Jr. as OJ! JOHN TRAVOLTA AS ROBERT SHAPIRO!!!), I was expecting a campy, so bad it's good piece of guilty pleasure television.

    Instead, episode 1 was really good, and showed some of the human tragedy involved and not just the tabloid gossip. OJ and Nicole Brown Simpson's kids calling home and tearfully leaving a message on the answering machine as crime scene investigators are in the condo was a bit heavy-handed, but it reminds you that there were actual lives involved here, and Nicole and Ron Goldman's murders had an impact outside of the media.

    Marcia Clark has been humanized, as well as Christopher Darden. Schwimmer as Kardashian seems to be completely on OJ's (or, as he's constantly referred to, "Juice") side, until he seems to realize that maybe his friend really did kill two people. Travolta chews the scenery and is entertaining.

    It should be pointed out that the show was written by Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, who did Ed Wood and the People vs. Larry Flynt.

    I can't wait for the next episode.

    #2
    The People vs. OJ Simpson

    Ditto. Pleasantly surprised at the quality all-around. I really wish they'd used an unknown as OJ, cuz I just see Cuba there onscreen. Travolta is seriously good.

    My only reservation is that they're stretching it out for ten episodes. If AHS has taught us anything, it's that the soup gets reallllllllly thin around episode 5, and then it's fucking work until episodes 9 and 10.

    Comment


      #3
      The People vs. OJ Simpson

      I liked the first episode, too, but it still seemed like OJ's friend and lawyer was Ross Geller, not Robert Kardashian.

      Comment


        #4
        The People vs. OJ Simpson

        He really is the 'permanently confused' weak link in the piece.

        Comment


          #5
          The People vs. OJ Simpson

          http://gph.is/1KVZYOQ

          Comment


            #6
            The People vs. OJ Simpson

            Nice. That was really his schtick for the whole first ep.

            Comment


              #7
              The People vs. OJ Simpson

              Damn, I really cannot get enough of this show. I think the most recent episode, on the jury selection and the internal struggles among the lawyers on both sides, was the best one yet. Johnnie Cochran's character is the most interesting in the show, and Courtney B. Vance is great as him.

              Comment


                #8
                The People vs. OJ Simpson

                Yeah, we fucked up and didn't PVR it this week. Have to wait till next week when it reruns. But yeah, it's been great so far. Except for Cuba who simply cannot act. God he's awful in everything.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The People vs. OJ Simpson

                  WOM wrote: Yeah, we fucked up and didn't PVR it this week. Have to wait till next week when it reruns. But yeah, it's been great so far. Except for Cuba who simply cannot act. God he's awful in everything.
                  And yet he's an Oscar winner, go figure.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The People vs. OJ Simpson

                    I know. As Good As I Gets, right? Watch him in A Murder of Crows (he starred) and you'll be convinced they tried to take the trophy back.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      The People vs. OJ Simpson

                      He got the Oscar for Jerry Maguire not As Good As It Gets, although it would be true to say that the mid 90s were as good as he ever got.

                      If an actor doesn't physically resemble the person he's portraying, he needs to make up for it in acting skills, and Gooding is really struggling here. His performance, and that of David Schwimmer, should make the whole thing unwatchable, but it's still hugely enjoyable, even when they shoehorn in references to the Kardashian kids.

                      Travolta is excellent, as is Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark. Remeber the 1990s, when you could still light up a cigarette at your desk?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The People vs. OJ Simpson

                        That made me curious, because I remember the California indoor smoking ban taking effect in the 1990s. I looked it up, and it started on Jan 1, 1995. So in the show they'd still be in 1994, but it will be mildly interesting if they are sticklers for historical accuracy and drop the smoking as the trial goes on.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          The People vs. OJ Simpson

                          Well, this might just have gotten a whole lot more interesting.

                          http://us.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/oj-simpson-property-knife/index.html

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The People vs. OJ Simpson

                            Kind of into this, but - putting his performance to one side - I'm struggling to look at Cuba and then instantly think: 'previously lean, powerful, record-breaking grid-iron f'tball player'.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The People vs. OJ Simpson

                              jwdd27 wrote: He got the Oscar for Jerry Maguire not As Good As It Gets, although it would be true to say that the mid 90s were as good as he ever got.
                              Travolta is excellent, as is Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark. Remeber the 1990s, when you could still light up a cigarette at your desk?
                              Ah, Jerry Maguire, then. Couldn't recall. But yes, JT and SP are both excellent. And the guy playing Darden. I can't take Nathan Lane seriously as whatsisname, though. He always has that same wry smirk/frown on his face, and it gets on my tits.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                I've seen about five minutes of one episode, but I must admit the Guardian's wig-by-wig analysis of the show makes me want to watch more.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                  Last night for me contained the most powerful scene of the whole series so far when Ron Goldman's father broke down over the death of his son and expressed anger over the way his son had become a footnote to his own murder and was treated as something of a joke by the media. For me this bought home what this trial was really about the brutal double murder of two people in their own home.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                    I remember when that happened in real life.

                                    It was genuinely powerful and caused many people to snap out of the haze that had them viewing the trial as a soap opera or police procedural.

                                    Unfortunately, that only lasted about one news cycle.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                      I know people are falling over themselves to praise Courtney B. Vance but the actor who played Fred Goldman (Joe Siravo, who played Johnny Boy Soprano) absolutely knocked it out of the park. That was the single best acting performance of the series so far.

                                      I know the real-life Fred Goldman has criticized the show as focusing too much on OJ Simpson, but admitted he felt he had to watch because he wanted to see how such a popular show would treat his son.

                                      I hope he felt a little better after that scene.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                        Just a couple of episodes in but thoroughly enjoying this series so far. I had only a basic working knowledge of this whole case so it's pretty useful to get all the detail.

                                        Schwimmer's perma-perplexed character wears thin quickly but I'm struggling more with the overly idealistic Marcia Clark role. Surely someone as experienced as her would simply raise a world-weary eyebrow to all of the minor quirks and injustices in the US justice system, instead she rants and rails against everything like a first-year student years away from being brow-beaten by the system.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                          Perhaps. But she was so disillusioned by the injustices she saw that she packed-in the job right after the acquittal. So, I mean, it's probably fairly accurate re: her feelings at the time.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                            I know plenty of people at the time that thought that there was no way that OJ could be found anything but guilty. So many people were not only furious at the verdict, but also just dumbfounded.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                              Is this really accurate? (within the bounds that it's a dramatic piece). Because Christ it's angry making. Could it have been filmed so as to put more doubt on OJs guilt?

                                              Episode six was much stronger for having less of Shapiro, Kardashian and OJ.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                                It's hard to believe that the Khardashian character could be such a naif. Not one member of OJ's defence team thinks he's innocent but they don't care for their own selfish reasons, whereas Khardasian never seems to have the slightest doubt in his mind despite the overwhelming evidence.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  The People vs. OJ Simpson

                                                  Levin wrote: Is this really accurate? (within the bounds that it's a dramatic piece). Because Christ it's angry making. Could it have been filmed so as to put more doubt on OJs guilt?

                                                  Episode six was much stronger for having less of Shapiro, Kardashian and OJ.
                                                  There's a few embellishments here and there, but they're playing it pretty straight through the first four or five episodes (I can't remember where we are; I think the UK is two weeks behind the US on this one). It really was that barmy.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X