TNT's new series, "Leverage," effectively takes "Ocean's Eleven" and turns it into a series, following five thieves who decide that they work better together than alone. The premise is interesting, the show is suave, and it's pretty good for lighter fare.
Their leader, Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton), happened to be an "honest man" in his former life as an insurance agent, until he quit his job because his company wouldn't pay for his son's medical treatments and allowed him to die.
While drinking his troubles away, Ford gets hired by an aeronautics designer to lead a team of thieves to steal back designs from a rival company that happens to be insured by the company that let his son die (apparently working as an insurance agent is great training for becoming a criminal mastermind). Ford agrees and they get the job done, but everyone gets cheated on payday. They decide to get back at the man who cheated them, and get plenty of money in the process.
Everyone realizes they work best together under Ford's leadership, but he insists that they only target the greedy corporations that use their power to hurt innocent people. Having been already made for life by the previous heist, the thieves agree to play the Robin Hood role.
The show is heavily reminiscent of the "Ocean's Eleven" movies, with characters pulling off heists using a mix of high-tech gadgets and witty, old-fashioned cons. Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane), adds a little more action to the mix as the "retrieval specialist" whose specialty is beating people up, preferably people who happen to be pointing their suddenly useless guns at him.
Spencer, of course, doesn't play well with Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), the cocky master hacker. The greaseman (or grease-lady, rather), Parker (Beth Riesgraf), is the kind of nut who will rappel down anything when given the chance. And the last recruit to the team, Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman) plays the femme fatale (as if the name wasn't a clue already).
With a good amount of humor from the wisecracking band of thieves, "Leverage" keeps a quick pace throughout. Well-written plotlines unfortunately are not matched by the somewhat predictable and hackneyed dialogue. There's not much brilliance here, but the heists will certainly appeal to any high-tech crime junkies.
The characters are emblematic of the show: highly amusing, but at the end of the day, paper-thin. Hutton portrays the most emotional depth to his character as the conflicted thief who finds out he loves the job, but refuses to steal just for profit and gives all his loot away. Hodge and Bellman play total stereotypes. Hodge is the cocky hacker who knows no one understands anything he explains, yet still explains everything he does (and whispers "come on, baby" to his computers), and Bellman's job is solely to flirt in a foreign accent with some evil old guy to manipulate him. Riesgraf is usually crazy and thrill seeking, while Kane maintains the quiet muscleman demeanor throughout.
Thrilling and funny at some moments, unsurprising and clichéd at others, "Leverage" does a good job of proving that there is honor among thieves.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
