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PORTSIDE CULTURE

A MAN IN FULL REVIEW: DAVID E. KELLEY TACKLES TOM WOLFE  
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John DeVore
May 2, 2024
AV Club
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_ Netflix’s A Man In Full lacks Wolf’s sardonic bite, insider
knowledge of privilege, and an outsider’s disdain for American
institutions and the egomaniacs who lead them _

Jeff Daniels as Charlie Croker , Photo: Netflix

 

Gonzo journalist-turned-literary titan Tom Wolfe’s second novel,
1998's _A Man In Full_, is similar to his barnburner of a debut,
1987's _The Bonfire Of The Vanities_. They’re both sprawling social
satires about the powerful and the not-so-powerful and the cities they
inhabit, namely Atlanta and New York City, respectively.

_The Bonfire Of The Vanities_ was a bestseller adapted by director
Brian DePalma into a box office flop in 1990 starring a miscast Tom
Hanks as a swaggering Wall Street “Master of the Universe.” And
now, 25 years after _A Man In Full_ was a National Book Award
finalist, it is a six-episode limited series (out May 2
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Daniels as Charlie Croker, a former Georgia Tech football hero and
real estate “Master of the Universe” mired in debt and forced to
defend his empire from bankers with grudges.

Netflix
[[link removed]]’s _A
Man In Full _lacks Wolf’s sardonic bite, insider knowledge of
privilege, and an outsider’s disdain for American institutions and
the egomaniacs who lead them. His class and racial critiques are juicy
stuff (if sometimes superficial), and his source material mocks the
petty dramas of the upper crust and America’s fraught, unfair
justice system. Unfortunately, this series lacks hot sauce, which
isn’t to suggest it isn’t occasionally enjoyable. It’s perfectly
watchable—and that’s too bad.

REVIEWS [[link removed]]

A Man In Full

C+

The assembled talent behind _A Man In Full_ is impressive, beginning
with the show’s creator and writer, David E. Kelley, a name
synonymous with blockbuster primetime dramas like _Ally McBeal_
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Legal_. Three episodes are directed by veteran TV impresario Thomas
Schlamme, most known for his many collaborations with Aaron Sorkin,
including _The West Wing_
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are directed by Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Regina King. So yes, this
is a dream team.

And yet, _A Man In Full _feels half-baked. All the elements are
there. It’s well-shot, acted, and directed. No expense was spared.
But it lacks punch. Spice. To use a word Croker loves: vigor. _A Man
In Full_ isn’t as experimental as some of Netflix’s buzzier, more
recent shows, like _Ripley_
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Not everything has to push boundaries. This limited series aspires to
be ready for 8 PM EST on CBS, an adult melodrama that is easy on the
eyes and brain, and if your eyes and brain drift to your phone for a
minute, you’ll probably miss nothing because nothing truly climactic
happens until the finale. Perhaps Netflix and other streamers are to
blame, as they demand unobtrusive, bland entertainment that flows from
one hour to the next for all eternity.

The book was a Clinton-era look at racial politics, sex, and money in
the economically booming New South. Instead of leaning into the late
’90s, a time of seeming peace and prosperity that still intrigues
modern audiences, Kelley and his colleagues spend time sanding off
sharp edges and forcing the original’s pre-9/11 vibes into the more
complicated reality of 2024 with mixed success. The world that
Wolfe’s Croker inhabits is much different than today. And the result
is a production that feels out of time.

[Aml Ameen as Roger White, William Jackson Harper as Wes Jordan ]

Aml Ameen as Roger White, William Jackson Harper as Wes Jordan 

Photo: Mark Hill/Netflix

The most compelling scene in the first episode is a boardroom
confrontation between Daniels’ Croker and the banker threatening his
debt-riddled corporation, a pugnacious suit played exquisitely by Bill
Camp. This macho back-and-forth is watched, with delight, by the
show’s main villain, the aptly named Raymond Peepgrass, a nerd with
a vendetta against Croker. Tom Pelphrey’s Peepgrass is a tortured,
ambitious weasel who wants to take a big man down. Variations of this
same boardroom scene are repeated throughout the series, and it’s
understandable why: They’re the most exciting, and_ A Man In Full
i_s six long hours, some of them devoid of original conflicts or
satisfying resolutions. It needs all the drama it can summon.

Wolfe’s fiction and non-fiction writings explore American
masculinity, whether it’s a riveting record of the taciturn tough
guys of NASA in _The Right Stuff _or wealthy hedonist Sherman McCoy
in_ The Bonfire Of The Vanities_. As such, Wolfe isn’t famous for
writing three-dimensional women, and Kelley’s_ A Man In
Full _tries to save the late author from himself.

First, Kelley & Co. cast amazing actors, including Sarah Jones as an
underestimated trophy wife who is smarter than she seems and the great
Diane Lane as Croker’s ex-wife. (Lane shines in whatever roles she
takes, even small thankless ones. She was a standout in this year’s
FX series _Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans_
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And it’s always a pleasure to see Lucy Liu in anything, really. But
these actors are given supporting parts, mostly wives and friends of
wives.

A Man in Full | Official Trailer | Netflix

What is there to say about the show’s star, Jeff Daniels? He’s one
of the best to do it, a worthy member of America’s pantheon of
Hollywood greats. He’s versatile as a character actor or a lead.
Daniels has this rare ability to be loveable and vile, interchangeably
and simultaneously. He possesses a relaxed but combustible
intelligence and a Midwestern sturdiness that makes him perfect when
cast as an everyman or a grounded authority figure, but he isn’t
well suited as a debauched Dixie capitalist.

The last time Daniels led an hourlong drama was as a brilliant,
frustrating cable news host in Aaron Sorkin’s _The Newsroom_
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cringe-inducing, overly romantic look at broadcast journalism. (That
show did not involve Thomas Schlamme as a producer.) Daniels
tackled _The Newsroom_ with gusto and tries to do the same here, but
only with a thick Southern drawl. He is also saddled with corny Big
Daddy-isms that he dutifully spouts. The actor is a consummate
professional, after all. But unfortunately, this just isn’t the
project for him.

_A MAN IN FULL_ PREMIERES MAY 2 ON NETFLIX

* NETFLIX
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* a man in full
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* racial politics
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* new south
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* tom wolfe
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