The American felony justice system is a scary place. Not just for these within the dock going through the implications of their actions or aiming for absolution, however for these on the benches in entrance of them, too. Presumed Harmless, a brand new eight-part thriller from AppleTV+, is a narrative of position reversal, the place those that normally deal with the interrogation discover their very own lives all of a sudden underneath the microscope.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Rusty Sabich, a fierce prosecutor working within the felony courts of Chicago. His profession is augmented by a seemingly idyllic homelife together with his spouse, Barbara (Ruth Negga), and their two telegenic youngsters. All of this evaporates with a single telephone name informing Rusty that his colleague Carolyn (Renate Reinsve) has been discovered brutally murdered. As Rusty will get to work on the state’s case, sure particulars begin to emerge. Not solely have been Rusty and Carolyn sexually concerned however she was pregnant together with his little one. “I’ll battle to save lots of what now we have,” Barbara tells her husband. “However it’s good to cease loving her.” That battle turns into more and more arduous as, slowly however absolutely, Rusty’s former colleagues activate him, and he turns into the prime suspect within the case.
Presumed Harmless is the newest instalment within the evergrowing oeuvre of David E Kelley (extra on that shortly) and one other adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1987 novel, which was beforehand the supply of a 1990 Harrison Ford movie (which, in flip, spawned a mini-series, The Burden of Proof, and a sequel, Harmless). Which is to say that that is fairly acquainted territory for shoppers of American popular culture over the previous few many years. Even the sight of Invoice Camp as Raymond Horgan (a world-weary defence lawyer entering into for “one final case”) and Peter Sarsgaard as Tommy Molto (an formidable however sleazy prosecutor, or “an actual d***” in Rusty’s phrases) really feel intensely acquainted.
On the centre of all of it is Gyllenhaal, taking over a task beforehand performed by Ford and Invoice Pullman, and providing an unshowy, vaguely believable efficiency. Positive, he’s unusually ripped for somebody who spends most of his day in strip-lit municipal buildings, however he is aware of methods to rock a pair of spectacles. Extra attention-grabbing is Negga’s Barbara, a wide-eyed naif with a seeming capability for mercy. “You need to disappear into this case,” she warns Rusty. “You’ll disappear, and you’ll go silent.” However because the case proceeds – throwing up twists and turns, to not point out salacious particulars about spermatozoa and bondage – each Gyllenhaal and Negga battle to make a lot impression on a present that feels as neatly and flimsily assembled as flatpack furnishings.
A lot of the problem lies with the present’s creator, Kelley, who got here to prominence because the progenitor of Ally McBeal and Boston Authorized. He is aware of the ropes, then, however has develop into so intensely prolific lately (profiting off the streaming wars by working with Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu and now AppleTV+) that a lot of his output is bilge. Since 2017’s Massive Little Lies, Kelley has created only some first rate works of tv (The Lincoln Lawyer, say, or Love & Loss of life) and a bunch of garbage (9 Excellent Strangers, Anatomy of a Scandal, The Undoing, Massive Sky). It’s hardly any shock that his output is so hit or miss: within the time since Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman lit up the Monterey mothers’ membership, Kelley has created a dozen new collection.
It may be time to provide somebody – actually anybody – else a go. Presumed Harmless isn’t dangerous, per se, nevertheless it’s bland. The writing and performances really feel as if they’re going by way of the motions (“I’m not a liar,” Rusty tells his therapist; “Nicely, you’re,” she replies, in a approach that typifies a lot of the “he mentioned, she mentioned” nature of the dialogue). Reinsve, who was so good in The Worst Individual within the World, is underused within the position of the sufferer, showing primarily half-dressed in fragmentary flashbacks. She and Negga are two of essentially the most underrated actors in Hollywood. It appears believable that in a number of years’ time, AppleTV+ may look again at Presumed Harmless as an actual missed alternative.
Or possibly it’ll be content material with Kelley’s stolid storytelling, which could not hassle the awards ceremonies however will fulfill the floating viewer. What’s clear is that the streamer was taking pictures for one thing like Sky’s The Evening Of, a brooding 2016 thriller set within the New York justice system. However Presumed Harmless fails to be something prefer it – nowhere close to as surprising, horny or satisfying. With this a lot funding and this a lot expertise, such a misfire feels virtually felony.
