Landman (Season 1)
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
The wild west LIVES.
A perfect blend of great ensemble acting, a star turn by Billy Bob Thornton and superb writing by Taylor Sheridan, LANDMAN (SEASON 1) is pure binging pleasure.
I can't think of a better character than Tommy Norris, the weathered, stubborn, in-your-face cowboy in charge of the West Texas oil fields of M-TEX. Thornton has always been one of my favorite actors and this might be his greatest role. He IS Tommy. The treasure hunt of modern day oil rigs, combined with all the employees Tommy oversees and one hell of a wild home life combine for hour after hour of drama, big laughs and real suspense on the big stage that only Texas can provide.
Sheridan (Hell or High Water, Yellowstone) is a prolific genius, reinventing the classic westerns of decades past, stirring in a dash of "Dallas" and populating his original world building with an amazing cast of actors.
Season One features 10 episodes that drop us into a wide ranging collection of story lines that weave effortlessly in and out of each other like the oil rigs that dot the flat landscape of Texas. There's not a weak character or subplot amongst them and Sheridan takes his time, surprising me with the long minutes he'll spend with a quiet scene with his characters, pulling us into their most private moments.
Jon Hamm is terrific as Tommy's boss and President of M-TEX, Monty Miller. Every day is driving him toward a firth heart attack and we're along for the ride.
Demi Moore (The Substance, Disclosure) plays his wife Cami, whose role in the story becomes more important as we go. Moore is perfectly cast, oozing total commitment and class as Cami.
Ali Larter (Heroes) damn near steals the series as Tommy's ex-wife Angela Norris. As my wife says, Angela "is just the right amount of crazy". I'd say she's nuts (Angela, not my wife), but Larter creates a full blooded, nuanced woman that beats wholly to her own drum, hilariously so.
Michelle Randolph (Scream 7) is stunning as Tommy's daughter Ainsley. She's enough trouble on her own, but when Angela comes back into their lives, Ainsley finds a partner in crime. It's a tribute to Sheridan's superb writing that these two women's roles, reactions and actions went nowhere I suspected.
Billy Bob's facial reactions to Larter and Randolph are worth their weight in gold.
Jacob Lofland (Dirt) is an offbeat and superb choice to play Tommy's son Cooper, he's a quiet core of the story alongside Tommy.
Paulina Chavez is terrific as Ariana, the widow of one of Tommy's crewmen killed at a pump site. Chavez and Lofland carve out a fascinating subplot together.
Kayla Wallace shines as attorney Rebecca Falcone, a Gen Z lawyer that Monty hires for an escalating series of events. She is brutal, fast, sharp and she and Tommy are oil & water, which makes for great storytelling. Wallace nails every angle of Kayla and you can't take your eyes of her. She'll tear you to shreds. She seems to be replacing Monty's long time lawyer, Nathan, perfectly played by Colm Feore (Chicago, Face Off, Thor). Nathan and Tommy are a different breed, loyal to a fault and that loyalty is fascinating and inspiring to watch.
Sheridan knows it, giving the two actors moments to truly shine.
He also writes Wallace a long dialogue scene in which she verbally eviscerates opposing counsel who's made the one-time error of condescending to her. It's a scene that stands comfortably next to Alec Baldwin's Mamet"Glengarry Glenn Ross" take down in the verbal fireworks department. Tommy's natural reaction at the end of her speech is the type of flawless, natural moment that Thornton has delivered for years.
His favorite role for me has always been the mysterious Lorne Malvo in FX's Season 1 of "Fargo", but he tops that here with Tommy. He's a WOW.
These West Texas locations serve up everything from drug cartels, rig disasters, world class local lawmen like Sheriff Joe Waltberg (Mark Collie), Friday Night Lights quarterbacks named Ryder (a perfectly cast and hilarious Mitchell Slaggert) and a few big star cameos that I won't divulge here.
I could go on for another ten paragraphs about all the great characters and the perfectly cast actors playing them, but I need to wrap this up and go dive into Season 2.
Sheridan and Thornton have created something truly special, a funny, dramatic, suspenseful adult entertainment that apologizes to no one for what it is and who these people are.
I didn't realize how refreshing that could be until I met the Norris clan and the world around them. There aren't enough superlatives to describe the Billy Bob brilliance on display here. Tommy Norris just wants a cigarette, a Dr. Pepper and a quiet meat & potatoes dinner. The last one seems definitively out of reach.
Sheridan has struck oil with LANDMAN (SEASON 1), one of the best binges I've ever experienced, it gets an A+.
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