Deal me out: ESPN poker drama `Tilt' comes up short of a royal flush
More Tilt than a pinball...
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=63208
``Tilt,'' ESPN's new pinball - er, poker - drama, aims to be hard-boiled but never gets deeper than attitude.
Still, props to ESPN for taking a shot at another fictional expose series after its 2003 pro football series ``Playmakers'' debacle and for wisely choosing a game that lacks an industry bully such as the NFL to kill the show.
The Las Vegas-set ``Tilt'' is about a gaggle of cutie-pie card players who seek to bring down the world's greatest, dirtiest poker player, Don ``The Matador'' Everest (played by Michael ``Mickey Rourke Was Out Buying Hair Grease'' Madsen).
The series was created by the guys who wrote the 1998 Matt Damon poker thriller ``Rounders'' and has the same basic idea. You can't go completely wrong with the theme of gambling and the details of its subculture.
Structurally, the writing is interesting. It's a continuing story line that unfolds the histories between the characters slowly while drawing parallels between them. At least we know HBO's ``The Wire'' is a good influence.
But the debut episode spends more time on its perfect-cheekbone leads exchanging trash talk than on anything intriguing or original.
These sexpots look and act as if they could barely count their toes, let alone count cards. Especially lead hunk Eddie Cibrian of ``Third Watch,'' who seems like a Coleman lantern that somehow sprouted a three-day beard. (He plays a character helpfully named Eddie so he won't get confused.)
The story twists and turns, but follows very familiar road maps in doing so. From Des Moines rubes to crooked cops, every film noir plot ever penned seems destined to be rousted from bed to work this one.
There's a character named Miami. The dialogue - such as ``This ain't America, kid. This is Vegas.'' - could almost make you wish Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler were never born. Madsen lurches around saying goofy things about card hands being like mackerel in the moonlight. (It will be worth watching to see whether there will be more flashbacks showing him wearing a cheesy fake mustache.)
``Tilt'' would be good for a laugh if there wasn't a sense that something more meaty was going to waste.
The show plays on TV's influence on the newly popular world of poker tournaments. But the show itself is so overcooked and cliched, it embodies the issue more than exploring it.
And while it delves into the sordid politics of the macho poker world, it's clearly more interested in glamorizing it as a fantasy for the 20-something demographic. With its cute cast, flashy duds and ubiquitous strippers, it's like a long-form beer commercial.
Eventually, the between-scenes filler shots of pros handling cards becomes the most interesting bit. Viewers will decide whether they're being dealt a joker or a knave.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=63208
``Tilt,'' ESPN's new pinball - er, poker - drama, aims to be hard-boiled but never gets deeper than attitude.
Still, props to ESPN for taking a shot at another fictional expose series after its 2003 pro football series ``Playmakers'' debacle and for wisely choosing a game that lacks an industry bully such as the NFL to kill the show.
The Las Vegas-set ``Tilt'' is about a gaggle of cutie-pie card players who seek to bring down the world's greatest, dirtiest poker player, Don ``The Matador'' Everest (played by Michael ``Mickey Rourke Was Out Buying Hair Grease'' Madsen).
The series was created by the guys who wrote the 1998 Matt Damon poker thriller ``Rounders'' and has the same basic idea. You can't go completely wrong with the theme of gambling and the details of its subculture.
Structurally, the writing is interesting. It's a continuing story line that unfolds the histories between the characters slowly while drawing parallels between them. At least we know HBO's ``The Wire'' is a good influence.
But the debut episode spends more time on its perfect-cheekbone leads exchanging trash talk than on anything intriguing or original.
These sexpots look and act as if they could barely count their toes, let alone count cards. Especially lead hunk Eddie Cibrian of ``Third Watch,'' who seems like a Coleman lantern that somehow sprouted a three-day beard. (He plays a character helpfully named Eddie so he won't get confused.)
The story twists and turns, but follows very familiar road maps in doing so. From Des Moines rubes to crooked cops, every film noir plot ever penned seems destined to be rousted from bed to work this one.
There's a character named Miami. The dialogue - such as ``This ain't America, kid. This is Vegas.'' - could almost make you wish Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler were never born. Madsen lurches around saying goofy things about card hands being like mackerel in the moonlight. (It will be worth watching to see whether there will be more flashbacks showing him wearing a cheesy fake mustache.)
``Tilt'' would be good for a laugh if there wasn't a sense that something more meaty was going to waste.
The show plays on TV's influence on the newly popular world of poker tournaments. But the show itself is so overcooked and cliched, it embodies the issue more than exploring it.
And while it delves into the sordid politics of the macho poker world, it's clearly more interested in glamorizing it as a fantasy for the 20-something demographic. With its cute cast, flashy duds and ubiquitous strippers, it's like a long-form beer commercial.
Eventually, the between-scenes filler shots of pros handling cards becomes the most interesting bit. Viewers will decide whether they're being dealt a joker or a knave.
posted by Angel The Gambler @ 6:09 AM
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