'The Night Of' leaves, 'Captain America' comes back
The 105-minute final episode of HBO's "The Night Of" wasn't perfect, but it did end the limited crime series on a high note after weeks of increasingly frustrating episodes.
Det. Box (Bill Camp) finally did some detective work and found another solid suspect in the murder that began the series - too bad his previous suspect, Naz (Riz Ahmed), was already on trial for the crime. Naz's original lawyer, eczema-ridden ambulance chaser John Stone (John Turturro), learned to love his rescue cat and got to deliver the closing argument. The argument didn't exactly win Naz's freedom, but it did result in a hung jury. Box's new evidence led prosecutor Helen Weiss (Jeannie Berlin) to abandon a second trial, letting Naz - now covered in prison tats and addicted to crack - go free.
What could have been an enthralling four-hour miniseries was dragged out to nine and stuffed with head-scratching detours like Stone's medical battles and some downright unbelievable behavior from Naz's lead attorney, Chandra (Amara Karan). The ending, while not completely satisfying, makes sense within the logic of the show - a show where a young, bright lawyer agrees to become a drug mule for her client, and where the accused man's parents take a narrative back seat to a cat.
In "The Night Of," Muslims aren't to be trusted, blacks are criminals, women are whores or weeping wimps, and mediocre white men are the heroes. Maybe that was entirely the point that co-writers Steven Zaillian and Richard Price were trying to make: America's broken justice and social systems reinforce stereotypes and keep society from progressing. And that's an interesting point ... I just wish it had been made in sharper, more satisfying fashion.
<h3 class="leadin">The 'War' at home</h3>
Summer's not over, but 2016's first summer movie is already coming home.
"Captain America: Civil War," starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and almost all of the "Avengers" cast, is now available for digital HD purchase from vudu, iTunes, Amazon Video and other digital retailers. The DVD and Blu-ray releases follow on Sept. 13 with a host of bonus features, including a funny gag reel, a sneak peek at November's "Doctor Strange" with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the requisite documentaries and commentaries.
If you're wondering why Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) didn't show up for "Civil War," a new short film by "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi circulating online fills in the gaps in humorous fashion. (Search for "Team Thor" on YouTube.)
• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.