Hung

A new HBO series premiered last night starring Thomas Jane as Ray, a former high school and college sports star ruined by an injury whose hard times have continued to increase. His wife left him for a dermatologist, his son is in the goth scene, and his daughter is dating someone named Hammer. He teaches gym at the local high school and his uninsured house just burned down. In desperation, he decides to go to a seminar to unlock his inner entrepreneur. He comes to realize his only “tool” for success in this world is, well, look at the name of the series.

Jane is believable and portrays the inner struggles and difficult decisions well. This is a pretty good move for him - his film career was stuck with crappy scripts since he probably insisted on being the lead. (No one will ever take away his genius turn in Boogie Nights, however). His seminar co-attendee and occasional lover Tanya (Jane Adams – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is terrific as a self-proclaimed poet and future pimp with a knack for marketing. Likewise, a fiery Anne Heche and a slick Eddie Jemison are great in short scenes as his ex-wife and her new man.This pilot episode was directed by Alexander Payne, whose last feature film was the excellent Sideways. He keeps things interesting with abrupt changes in mood, but mostly lets the actors and writers do their thing. There are some nice flashbacks and voice-over narration. It’s a good set-up for the series and it will be interesting to see where it goes. B

Programming note: Entourage returns next Sunday July 12