Goliath-New Amazon series starring Billy Bob Thornton

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Just started watching, still early, looks very promising. But then again, I love Billy Bob, so I'm very biased. Playing a character seemingly derived from his Bad Santa role, sort of.

Anybody else start watching it yet?

 

I'm two eps in. My impressions so far are generally favorable, but with caveats. I'm interested in the investigation and the legal wranglings (some interesting tactics at the end of ep2). Thornton does a great job, as usual.

However, I'm concerned that there are too many schlocky elements in evidence already. For example, the big bad, William Hurt character, is pretty much a caricature Bond villain, and then there are cheap shock tactics (again, what happens at the end of ep2, and I don't mean the court proceedings).

The support characters also feel a bit David E Kelly 'stilted', though I love Lucy (Olivia Thirlby) and her clown glasses.

Oh, and there is no way you're ever going to remove that rotten fish smell!

Still, it's entertaining enough, like most Kelly productions...

 

And it looks fantastic in 4K HDR.

 

I'm 5 ep's in, and really enjoying. The criticisms above are pretty much spot on, especially Hurt, but I don't care. It's entertaining, not boring, and BBT is his usual fun self.

And I didn't recognize Dwight Yoakum.

 

speaking of episode 5, William Hurt had his Boogie Night moment - gack!

 

oops I mean episode 4

 

Watched it in 2 days. I thought it was excellent and wanted more.

 

I've got one more to go - the showdown. I'm enjoying it - they even managed to make some of Hurt's, shall we say, cartoonish affectations more plausible, but I still wish his character was more realistically drawn. Nevertheless, the show's very entertaining and I love the seemingly irrelevant detail with the stray dog friendship - perhaps a proxy character reference for Billy McBride?

 

Spoilers...

Well, that last ep was pretty terrible!

So, when we should have had a battle of wits in court between two towering lawyers (and leads), instead we get a conveniently timed stroke, neutering the whole showdown that was telegraphed in the previous ep (and throughout the series).

And then, we get the closing arguments. The defense laid out a pretty convincing defense based on the facts in evidence (and those that weren't), but McBride just waffled on about some African proverb and corporations and emotions, whatever, and he wins with record damages! What a crock.

But it's not over yet because for some reason the weapons corp dude decides to confess his misdeeds to McBride who is secretly recording the confession. Oy!

Too bad, it was pretty good otherwise.

 

I quite enjoyed the end.

spoiler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Billy Bob gets the better of DY like he did in Sling Blade

 

I liked it, any thoughts on the final scene ?

 

spoiler!!!!!!!!!!




Thorton went high, Hurt went low, they made Hurt a bit too pathetic imo. A bit too much of a fairy tale ending but I liked it anyway...

 

I'm nearing the halfway point and surprisingly enjoying BB Thornton. I don't usually like him much but he's good here.

I'm getting a sort of Better Call Saul vibe in the sense it's little guys litigating against a giant law firm (he was once affiliated with) and a giant corporation. Lots of detailed legal research went into the writing. Not as much humor as BCS, but some. I'm pretty much gripped on the story and characters so far.

 

Not a bad story arc, but all throughout the series I couldn't stop thinking that Thornton was mis-cast
as Billy McBride. I kept imagining how much more credible Woody Harrelson would have been as
the wash-out Hoosier attorney fighting against 'The Man'.

 

I finished and enjoyed it. I liked Thornton in this roll, playing a real sort of person instead of the usual oddballs he plays. He did it well. I'm pleased the ending was not a suicide of the prostitute, which I was virtually certain was going to happen (which would show that even though he did some good, he still leaves death in his wake, or some such nonsense) --- excellent! The ending was reminiscent of an ending of one of the seasons of "24". Jack Bauer was back the next season.

 

Is this going to be an on going series?

 

I don't know. Amazon says it's season 1, for what that's worth.

 

I loved it. Some serious acting horsepower, some great quirky characters- yeah, it played off the age old trope of the washed up alcoholic lawyer being dragged out of his stupor to do one last case, but it was rich in odd moments- the sets and settings were a treat visually, Molly Parker just keeps getting better (and seems to be getting a lot of work these days), so nice to see Maria Bello. The woman who plays the air-head Valley chic lawyer was terrific. The scene when the plaintiff's team is heading to trial is great-- the heavyset paralegal, the hulking cousin from East Whateverstan, the loony/creepy engineer/ex-employee all stuffed into that beater Mustang, and then mounting the steps to the courthouse like the Wild Bunch.
William Hurt was also great at moments--as was the young associate who did his bidding.
All the plot twists and turns kept me glued. I did think it fell off in tension during the last couple episodes, when it should have been at its peak, but overall, a very satisfying watch. These long form tv mini-series are much more enjoyable to me than features these days. Billy Bob is always good. You might tune in because of him, but you'll stay for the rest. Great show.

 

Just finished binging this over the last couple of days. Really good acting by all, I thought. I agree with some of the plot criticisms I've read, but overall really enjoyed it. I hope they do another run of this series .

 

I'd recommend it. Some goofy, unrealistic plot twists, but it was so entertaining I didn't care.

 

enjoyed it!

 

Finished this last night. I enjoyed the acting a lot. I did think things got wrapped up a little too neatly.

 

Congrats to Billy Bob -- just won the Golden Globe for best actor - TV drama for this role. He deserved it.

 

I watched the season over the past week and I generally liked it. Some of it was really quite funny. A few plot points left me at a bit of a loss. For instance, why was it relevant that a minor was bringing the lawsuit (creating a special situation that overrode the statute of limitations) when his non-minor aunt was bringing the same lawsuit a very short time earlier and the statute of limitations was a non-issue? It is also incredibly difficult to even fathom the notion that McBride and Cooperman would have EVER formed a law firm together, never mind a successful one.

 

Overall I liked it, and look forward to season 2. Billy Bob Thornton was great to watch.

That said, I agree with other comments that William Hurt's character was simply TOO far over the top. And the sexual politics were mostly beyond believable.

I still wonder what the point of the prostitute character was in the end...She seemed to just get cast aside...