Hung (HBO) Review
I think this whole review can be summed up by my wife after watching the pilot for the new HBO show Hung. “It just was not satisfying and it was too slow.” I will get into a bit more depth later.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and Ray Drecker’s situation couldn’t be much tougher. The former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach is divorced and struggling to provide for his kids when his already run-down house catches fire. Looking to take on a second job, Ray decides to exploit his best asset in a last-ditch attempt to change his fortunes.
Right from the get go, this seems like a crappier version of Showtime’s Californication, with the video work, framing, and even some characters feeling the same except that it is not funny. I stopped watching Californication after season 1 so this tells you where Hung is probably going to end up for me. The pilot itself I think was too heavy on the gloomy and downtrodden portion of Ray Drecker’s situation and did not have enough humor or focus on what will likely become his job away from work. The setup worked well, with the fire burning down the house forcing him into doing something, but still all too somber. I do not think the writers were really going for comedy when they created it, but it is tough to talk about things like the economy, class system, industrial America at the same time you are using your lead character to become a gigolo because he has a big penis. For all the social commentary I would have liked to see Hung as a “dramedy” a la Californication. Plus the plot seemed to drag along as we follow Ray finally hitting upon the idea of becoming a gigolo. You know you often wonder how those jocks from high school turn out, and it seems, like Ray, some of them are just one injury away from having a real crappy life.
Thomas Jane seemed familiar to me, but it was not until I went back and looked as his list of movies that I remember him from The Punisher. He seems like a pretty good choice to play the washed up jock of Ray, who has enough heart to not just throw in the towel when his neighbor wants to buy his house after the fire and knock it down. He loses the only other thing he had besides his house and that was the fact that his kids were living with him instead of their mother, but this changes by the end of the pilot. Anne Heche who plays Ray’s ex-wife also hit it with her portrayal of the cheerleader who gets sick of living the lower middle class wife and trades up, even if that means at the expense of the family. I did have a problem though, with the character of Tanya Skagle. I know Ray only had two one night stands with her, but I just do not see the character of Ray, even down on his luck, doing that (her). I think they should have cast someone a bit prettier for Tanya, but with the same amount of crunkyness.
Overall I am going to watch it again next week to make sure the pilot was not a fluke, but Hung is not living up to any expectations.
Best part of the episode: The fact that I did not have to see a penis on the television and props to HBO for not trying to slip it in there
