Got It

Just finished the first season of Get Shorty, the Epix TV series now available on Netflix.  It's based on the Elmore Leonard novel, though, of course, a well-known and fairly faithful film version was made in 1995 starring John Travolta and Gene Hackman.  The TV show is much more freely adapted--as an open-ended series it would have to be.

The original is about a gangster who gets involved in the movie business, working on a specific project and dealing with a specific caper.  The TV show keeps the spine--gangster making a movie--but pretty much everything else has changed.  Now our lead is Miles (Chris O'Dowd), an enforcer for a Nevada mob.  Sent to LA by his ruthless boss Amara (Lidia Porto), he and his partner Louis (Sean Bridgers) end up killing a screenwriter who owes money. (The show could be classified as a comedy, but they don't stint on the violence.)

Miles is a fan of movies, and reads the writer's (blood-spattered) screenplay.  He thinks he could get it produced, which would allow himself a second chance at life.  He's separated from his wife, Emma (Carolyn Dodd), because she doesn't like his gangster lifestyle, especially with their daughter Katie (Lucy Walters) becoming a young lady.

So he meets with low-rent producer Rick Moreweather (Ray Romano) and tries to navigate the foreign world of Hollywood without being killed by his boss, her underlings, or their enemies.

Chris O'Dowd, using his native Irish accent, does a fine job playing both the comedy and the tension. Ray Romano is good, too, though, as the other big name on the series, has far less to do.  The supporting cast is solid, with especially notable work from Bridgers as the often confused partner who has to pretend to have written the script, Megan Stevenson as April, the studio exec who helps oversee the project, and Billy Magnussen as Nathan, a dopey actor who turns out to be talented (in one of the less believable plot twists on the show).

I like the show quite a bit.  It's a bit over the top sometimes--not only in its violence, but also in how Miles can get away with so much illegal intimidation--but overall it works. I hope Netflix soon makes the second season available.

I should note, however, the title doesn't make too much sense any more.  In the book, it refers to a short star (allegedly based on Dustin Hoffman, and played by Danny DeVito in the movie) everyone wants.  There is no such film star in the series, so instead they have the lead character call his daughter "shorty." I can see how he's trying to get back to his wife and daughter, but it's a bit much to name the whole show after that.