Similar to how Entourage ebbed and flowed on how vested we got into the various storylines of Vince’s career and if studios were going to make the movie he starred in, Ballers will hinge on Strasmore’s ability to not only find and retain clients, but more so extricate those athletes from the issues they face off the field.
One question you may have is “So where is my Ari Gold in all of this? Who else will stir the pot here?”
Corddry’s character, as Strasmore’s partner/mentor, is teased to be that viral lightning in a bottle, but ultimately just falls flat as another guy just trying to make it big with a wandering eye for girls and partying. (The closest comparison I have is a way less evil Sean Penn in Carlito’s Way.) I could see Joe being retooled a bit to be more eccentric and entertaining, given the show doesn’t seem to have much low-hanging fruit in terms of characters to laugh at or with largely going for cheaper yucks.
Troy Garity plays Jason, Strasmore’s former agent and friend who now represents some of the same clients as Strasmore. I actually liked Jason a lot, which is kind of a problem IMO, as he came off as entirely too normal. He is afraid to fly, down to earth, shoots you straight, and not a huge asshole — all what I consider core tenants of agents.
While one of the players Strasmore is trying to help does have a sniveling ass of a friend whose constant antagonization is quite painful to endure, Ballers seems to be missing an eccentric personality that stirs the show of mostly affable characters. You’d expect that to come from Garity or Corddry’s characters.
Strasmore does have a love interest, although that seems to be a very distant storyline and one that would fall under “It’s complicated.” One can’t help that notice through four episodes that there really isn’t a substantive strong female character, but one of the player’s wives and Strasmore’s love interest have some potential. Given how much debauchery, sex, and nudity there is, as well as what could be considered crass dialogue there is between the male characters, I can foresee this issue being something that will garner some level of attention.
Director Peter Berg really did a fantastic job in the Friday Nights Lights series of mixing in some terrific female characters into that show and while this is obviously a much different program, I think Ballers could face some criticism and scrutiny if some effort isn’t made there in future episodes and seasons — especially with how females are depicted or talked about in various scenes. (But that didn’t bother me much, given I found it believable within the different world athletes live in.)
Another thing I think may draw some attention in the show is the show’s usage of NFL teams and logos, apparently without the content of the NFL. I liked that we didn’t have to set up this alternate world with a fictitious football league, but can imagine the NFL may have some concerns. And if HBO and the NFL clash heads here, that would probably bring attention to the show, which I think would be very welcomed. (Imagine this as a PTI topic.)
https://youtu.be/15lfITfxMDI
On that point, Ballers definitely brings the goods in terms of the glorifying the lifestyle. Just four episodes in, we have:
– A party on a yacht.
– An impromptu second party on a yacht, this time leaving the dock.
– Young groupies doing blow.
– Sex in the club of a bathroom.
– A subsequent fight in the club.
– A business conversation conducted mid-intercourse.
– Bottles of Cristal being drank at brunch.
– Probably a million dollars worth of various vehicles.
– Lots of boobs. Lots of sex. Lots of infidelity.
I imagine some of our audience is stoked to hear this, while another portion may rule out the show based on this criteria and another contingent will now be on DEFCON 1 for future hate-watching purposes.
Also, the fact that the show is in Miami seems a little too convenient. Similar to Any Given Sunday, which also takes place in Miami, that setting just allows for extensively more gratuitous debauchery. I guess I’m curious how that creative decision was made. Was it like “Hey, I want to tell the story of athletes and their unique issues and lifestyle?” and HBO was like, “I like it, but it needs to be in Miami so we can have a ton of scenes in clubs, doing blow, on yachts, in ridiculous cars, with pretty girls wearing next to nothing.”
The NFL really needs to get a team to L.A. ASAP, as I’m just kind of annoyed with Miami as this petri dish setting for a world of shallow, successful attractive people partying but without any real glimpse into the various walks of life that every city has.
I liked the episode structure of Ballers. Each show has a pretty simple story with good starting and ending points. Pacing is good and the filmmaking is pretty solid as well. Episode four ended in a cliffhanger, which I’m already eagerly awaiting a resolution to. Outside of the partying and decadence, the show felt very similar to Entourage in terms of plot devices and misdirection.
Again with so much of this review pegging Ballers to Entourage, I’ll share a moment from this past Friday when I went out with some friends for some drinks. (Unfortunately, not on a yacht.) Towards the end of the night, my friend asked me if I wanted to see Entourage with him that weekend, to which I told him I didn’t. He replied “You LOVE Entourage, though.”
I can’t deny this. I remember watching the first episode in the summer of 2004 (initially because it was after Ali G) while staying at the Columbia dorms because I was interning in New York that summer. (Sidenote, I applied to intern at HBO the next summer and barely missed the cut. If HBO hates this review, you can thank the decision maker on that one.) I thought Entourage looked stupid in previews, but was hooked right away. I told everyone at school and back at home to watch it. I bought the DVDs. I got everyone hooked. I made plans to watch it with friends at college and after moving back home following college, people who didn’t have HBO came over to watch it. Many of my friends borrowed the seasons I had on DVD.
It’s hard to trace when and why I soured on the show. Part of it was that I changed, some of it was the show got stale and repetitive. But a lot of it was that the ebbs and flow of struggle and success became too predictable and overshadowed by the partying and a brand of humor that lacked wit and depth. A lot of the later episodes and seasons left me shaking my head, although there were most certainly a lot of quality moments still mixed in.
I say this because Ballers could fall right into that same hole. But by the same token, I can easily see it making great strides in terms of substance and story. That’s not just wishful thinking either.
The first four episodes tease the topic of concussions quite a bit. The addition of strong female characters as positive calming influences as well as any character with kids (it’s somewhat of an oddity in this day and age that there is no mention of adult characters having a family) would also help bring the show upstream a bit. While again, this may be wishful thinking, hoping HBO would bait and switch the brotastic 20-to-45 male demographic, let’s keep in mind this is also the network that does Real Sports and Last Week Tonight.
Let’s also keep in mind that Peter Berg is creatively involved (also playing the role of the Dolphins head coach), and his State Of Play series with HBO REALLY sank its teeth into some serious issues athletes and former athletes face. I mean, this is the guy who got a network deal with NBC for a football show and then in the pilot put the star quarterback in a wheelchair. Although Berg has a checkered past with some notable wins and losses in his career, he’s typically done much better in the realm of sports than outside of it. His wins there have centered around stories of substance and inward reflection, as well as character growth and depth.
Ballers‘ initial salvo doesn’t put it in that elite class of HBO shows many of us yearn for — which AMC, Netflix, Showtime and others are now chasing — but at the end of the day, it’s a look at an unique world many of us are curious about, executed at a higher level of quality than most of the drivel on other networks. More importantly, the show sets a base of believable characters and storylines that could eventually put it in that elite company.
By the same token, Ballers could easily sink, in terms of quality, in the quicksand that Entourage eventually drove itself into. I’m hopeful Berg steers Ballers to higher ground and not the quicksand that the intended demographic may be hoping for. But that’s not particularly easy, even if the network and those involved creatively opt to go in that direction. Either way, given the unique subject matter and the various potent ingredients HBO is tasked with blending together, I’ll be on board to the end regardless of which way Ballers ends up going.
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