Posts by Gino Sassani

"This drama is based on the true story of a police investigation in Southwest London between 2004-2006. Some names have been changed, and some characters and scenes have been created for dramatic purposes."

Serial killers have mostly been the stuff of American dramas and unfortunately the American reality. This particular brand of sociopath doesn't appear to thrive in the confining environments of most countries. Of course, for some it's that they shy away from the designation, and for others it's pure denial. But in the period between 2004 and 2006, Great Britain was terrorized by this very kind of human animal. The criminal's name was Levi Bellfield, and for two years an English task force hunted this killer. The lead investigator was Deputy Chief Inspector Colin Sutton. DCI Sutton ended up writing a bestseller book on the case, and now it has become an ITV series out on Blu-ray from Acorn. It's called, appropriately enough, Manhunt. It's a short little series containing only three episodes. A second season, or series as the Brits like to call them, will be airing sometime in 2020. For now this is a chance for the American audiences to discover the case and the series firsthand.

The youth of today don't appear to understand that movies and pictures used to be taken on a physical medium called film. The problem, of course, was that you didn't get to see your masterpieces immediately. You had to take the film to be developed. So perhaps that little generational disconnect explains why some filmmakers don't get that plots, like old film stock, also need to be developed. We live in a world of instant gratification, but the only trouble with instant gratification is that it takes too dang long. The same can be said for film plots. Today there are writers and directors who begin and end that process by throwing in some trending words and concepts from Google, and you have an instant plot that's sure to bring in an audience. At least that's what it appears happened with Crypto, directed by John Stalberg, Jr. What amazes me is that it took three writers to do the Google searches. Let's see... you punch in crypto-currency, Russia, and corporate greed, throw it into your computer word processor, and out comes a script. Let's call it, I know, Crypto. You have to have a mysterious-sounding one-word title.

Beau Knapp is terribly in over his head playing Marty. Both character and actor have taken on more than they bargained for. Marty is a compliance officer for a huge corporate bank called Omni. He discovers some stuff that ends up not very convenient for the suits and gets sent into exile to his small home town of Elba. He makes the comparison that a certain short French general was once exiled to a place with the same name and came back to conquer France. It's no surprise that he doesn't want to go back to Elba. He's estranged from his stubborn farmer father, played by Kurt Russell, who I'm sure made a mad dash to his own bank to make sure the deposit cleared before he showed up on the set. His brother (Hemsworth) is suffering from PTSD (another Google search?) and is trying to help his father with a failing potato farm. It's also no surprise that Marty uncovers some "irregularities" at the local Omni branch having to do with an art gallery. He also reconnects with his high school friend Earl Harris, who owns a small liquor store but has a backroom that looks like it could serve as mission control for the next Mars mission. He uses the setup to track and investigate crypto-currency like bitcoin. Wouldn't you know it? He finds out Omni might be trying to manipulate and dominate the system, and he helps Marty hack into some restricted files.

Let me begin by saying that I was a child of the 1970’s, which tends to make me approach these era shows with some caution. After such shows as That 70’s Show, to name the likely most popular, I find myself not recognizing the setting as the same 70’s I remember living. Granted I was pretty young, so the subject of swingers and sexual revolution were not exactly part of my everyday culture. So, I might be a little more forgiving if Swingtown doesn’t exactly hit on all of my memory circuits. I was 15 in 1976, living near Philadelphia, where we were all pretty much obsessed with that whole Bicentennial thing. The last thing on my mind was whether the neighbors, or, God forbid, my parents, were doing the bump and tickle with rotating partners. I’m pretty sure I’ll leave that question unanswered. Even with all of that said, about the only solid piece of nostalgia I got from Swingtown was the often sweet 70’s soundtrack. To the credit of whoever picked the music, all aspects of the 70’s music scene are represented. You get a good dose of folk, rock, summer pop, and even disco, which any self respecting child of the 70’s considers the death of what was otherwise a fine decade of music. Props to the music guy for not falling into the disco all of the time trap that these shows so often do. One minor complaint, however. Fleetwood Mac didn’t release their famous Rumors LP until Feb of 1977…Ooops. Outside of the music, it really could have been any time, any place.

It’s July 4^th weekend, 1976 and Bruce Miller (Davenport) and his family are movin’ on up. Money’s been good at his options trading job, so he’s packing up his wife Susan (Parker), teen daughter Laurie (Collins) and young son BJ (Howles) and moving a few blocks over to a bigger house in a better neighborhood. For Susan, it’s a bittersweet time because she’s leaving her friend of 10 years, Janet (Shor) and her husband Roger (Hopkins) and their son for a new neighborhood. Friends, it turns out, won’t be a problem. The first night they are introduced to new neighbors Trina (Parrilla) and Tom Decker (Snow). They’re invited to a party that turns out to be a swinger’s event. The two end up swapping spouses for the night. It’s an exciting, somewhat dangerous thrill for the Millers. From then on they try to balance their new lives and friends with their old. Janet is good for most of the laughs as this super conservative girl is exposed to her old friend’s new friends. As if that wasn’t enough, Laurie Miller is in love with her 24 year old high school teacher, and BJ’s hung up on a cute little girl with a drugged out lush for a single mom. Every week’s episode features a new party. You’ll get everything from a surprise birthday party for Janet, to a night out at the Playboy Club. There’s even a Tupperware party. I do remember my Mom had those. Before it’s done everybody’s spouse is falling for somebody else, and you never know who’s going to end up with who. It all ends in a cliffhanger that is not likely to ever be resolved. The jury’s still out on next summer, but ratings are marginal, so I wouldn’t hold my breath for a second Summer Of Love.