Apple TV+ television shows have something unique about them. While their growing catalog is quite small compared to other streaming platforms, it is very clear how much care they put into each of their productions. Whereas Netflix used to seemingly greenlight any pitch, Apple TV+ is extremely picky and when they produce something, throw thousands of dollars at it. They have spent $200 million on the upcoming film Argylle, $200 million on the Scorsese’s film Killers of the Flower Moon and $250 million on Masters of the Air series as well as $100 million on a forthcoming Christmas movie with Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds and also an upcoming miniseries called Invasion at 250m. They are not afraid to dream big.
Black Bird, which is a new true-crime drama has probably a budget nowhere close to those huge projects but this show could be called Apple’s look for now: restrained yet elegant with everything in place. Like many of their series, Apples gives Black Bird room for development; (this could also be said about their series Slow Horses and For All Mankind), and sometimes that might feel like molasses for viewers who prefer the striking fast pace of “The Terminal List” or anything similar but it absolutely works here.
Created by Dennis Lehane, Black Bird takes inspiration from one distressing story told in In With the Devil book and was performed by a truly strong cast and crew. Over time that Lehane has been shifting further away from his role as one of the best psychological mystery-thriller novelists (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River, Shutter Island) towards scriptwriting (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Mr.Mercedes , The Outsider). Outside The Wire isn’t bad television either but Black Bird is simply Lehane’s best yet. What Lehane does in his best ever television writing is take a real story and reassemble it into a tight but intricate narrative that grows in suspense like an avalanche.
Taron Egerton stars as James Keene in Black Bird who is serving 10 years for dealing; a couch is quickly thrown on its side, his hands are placed behind him and handcuffed, the police officers surround him and lay out all of his crimes right in front of him – pounds of drugs, illegal bullets and weapons, bags filled with money, various objects. They make an offer to him – he can serve out his full decade or he can cooperate with the feds and a prosecutor he despises by extracting information from a suspected prolific serial murderer who will walk on appeal without more evidence. In addition, Keene’s father (Ray Liotta) has just had a stroke and won’t survive his son’s prison term plus this alleged killer could be freed within thirty days.
The story goes back and forth between events when Keene committed his crimes and sometime earlier when multiple murders occurred involving missing girls while the police were trying to establish what exactly took place. Brian Miller (Greg Kinnear), the lead investigator for Vermilion County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois believes that Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) was responsible for these deaths – a giant gentle man who is awkward enough to be considered insane.
Everyone residing in Hall’s town can hardly believe that gentle giant would be capable of killing at least 13 young girls and children, yet Officer Miller as well as Lauren McCauley think he is the one. So, instead of getting an attorney to defend him like McCauley advises Keene, they end up together with the young, arrogant drug dealer with a million-dollar smile being taken to a maximum-security prison to become friends with Hall in exchange for his life by commuting the sentence (the prison term), going home to see his father and knowing what has happened to those killed girls.
The entire cast of Black Bird is consistently good, but the two leads are especially impressive playing against type. Egerton rose to prominence from Kingsman films where he played Eggsy and despite element of self-confidence and rebellious spirit from his previous role which can still be seen here as English “chav”, playing James Keene Jr. required a different approach by Eddie. Buff jacked than an SUV changing its tires cocky former high school football star who always gets whatever he desires.
However, most of Black Bird’s characters learning how to love something else besides himself; thus, it becomes a story about him having empathy that helps him befriend Keene and make him reveal some secrets about the charges against him. It’s only when terror floods over his face at times that we can observe this actor’s true skillfulness because there are moments where the audience meets Egerton when everything goes wrong for his character – a man on top who must now cozy up with serial killer while in maximum security prison.
Hauser plays the killer so hauntingly that he seems just as talented as an actor within various roles. Hauser is naturally funny and stole scenes when appearing in such comedies just as Community or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Key & Peele or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or Reno 911? He was hilarious in Cobra Kai as Stingray but can be menacing if he wants to, like in BlacKKKlansman. The title character of Richard Jewell was his best role before this; it is an underappreciated Clint Eastwood movie about a guy who saved the world from a bomb during the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 and was accused of planting it and now, that same ambivalence and tenderness is brought by him into Black Bird albeit with more instability and creepiness.
He’s got sideburns, always speaking at low tone though capable of breaking loose anytime; nevertheless, Hauser is what Anthony Hopkins represented for Silence of the Lambs in Black Bird – according to how much time they had on screen, he didn’t take much but could get into your mind through it all thus making almost everyone else (including you) keep defending themselves.
There are other great actors in the cast, such as Greg Kinnear who is subtle and gets many small moments to play with being the chief investigator. He is able to add breadth to little scenes like when he plays with a window during a phone call or simply asks someone to take two steps back. These details help create an image of a good-hearted but shrewd and headstrong man (modeled after the real Gary Miller). The late Ray Liotta is also fantastic in what effectively became one of his final roles, portraying James’ father, a retired police officer with a lifetime of issues. It is quite heart-wrenching seeing the character struggle through health problems and emotional turmoil while knowing that Liotta would die soon after filming this film, something that gives great weight to his performances.
Mogwai’s score is awesome too; they are an amazing band whose soundtracks have accompanied the outstanding international series Les Revenants and ZeroZeroZero, among others. In fact, it’s only Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (from Nine Inch Nails – Mogwai collaborated with them on Before The Flood’s soundtrack) and few others that can compete against their consistent scores for films.
Also, Natalie Kingston did great cinematography switching between the gloomy gray claustrophobia of prison houses and wide green open spaces of farmlands or fields. She perfectly deals with close-ups using them very sparingly but strategically well placed while her rare tracking shots are filled with suspense.
Michaël Roskam has previously worked with Lehane on The Drop making him possessed of some internal knowledge about how Lehane uses suspense; therefore he was able to combine this knowledge into all the audiovisual elements which come together in making this film by using budget for an Apple product more effectively than any other person I know.
The only bad choice thus far made by the show is its opening minutes- weak & unnecessary establishing voice-over narration that is totally incongruent with the tone of the show. These opening minutes are reminiscent of a college coming-of-age comedy in Black Bird for 5 minutes. This hour long drama, besides, feels like a slow but effective burn suspenseful film.
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