STREET DATE: MAY 23
Official Synopsis:
An offbeat personality, a tough-as-nails approach and a track record as one of the country's leading investigators--these are just a few of the traits exhibited by television's next great detective, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Kyra Sedgwick in "The Closer." In her first lead role in a dramatic series, Sedgwick plays a tough CIA-trained detective, with Southern charm, who has been brought from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up the Priority Murder Squad, a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases.
Our Take:
I was very prepared not to like The Closer. Every commercial I saw for the show made it look like something I wouldn't enjoy, and true to my expectations, by about half way through the pilot episode, I was reveling in my glee that I had predicted this one correctly. And then, just like that, the show got good. It was as if halfway through the pilot, they realized they were making a show nobody would like, and set about fixing it.
Kyra Sedgwick stars as the titular closer, an investigator/interrogator who does things Her Way. As is so often the problem with shows like this, though, the episode starts off with exactly zero likable characters. Sedgwick largely comes off as a complete witch, and the petulant police officers who instantly dislike her are also unlikable, although at least they have a clear reason for not liking her; namely, that she comes across like a complete witch. But the pilot starts to crackle when we finally see Sedgwick in the interrogation room. Both the actress and the character shine there, and from that point on, the show evolves rapidly. By the end of the episode, I was glued to my seat. From there, the show as a whole set about softening the characters, adding a little humor, and continuing the character development evidenced in the first episode. It's not a perfect show by any means, but it has a lot of potential.
Seeing as how the show finished it's first highly rated season last summer (and is about to launch season two), I'm a bit surprised that Warner didn't use that time to put together a better extras package than what we get here. A collection of unaired scenes from five different episodes is all that's included in this Season One set. All that time and they couldn't muster up a featurette or a commentary?
At the end of the day, The Closer is a police procedural, and there's not shortage of those on television. Luckily, the interrogation aspect, Sedgwick's camera presence, and the heavy emphasis on the characters' personal lives do set the show apart. While not a show for everyone, The Closer is definitely worth a look. Just make sure you give it more than half an episode to make up your mind.
Overall Picture:
Show: B
DVD: C+
- Mike Spring
Editor
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