Aaron Sorkin is an incredibly talented writer. He is also a man with firm political convictions. Many of his best scripts and creations derive from a delicate balance of those two aspects of his being. The West Wing got that balance just right, and all the other elements (not least of which is casting, something we will have to cover here) fell into place by some wonderful serendipity. Other times, a strong creative partner can channel his words to beautiful effect, as was the case with David Fincher's Social Network, or Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs. Left to his devices, Sorkin will just revel in being Sorkin, for better or worse.
With that lengthy disclaimer of sorts out of the way, welcome to The Newsroom: star anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) is paired mid-crisis of confidence with former lover and producer MacKenzie McHale (Mortimer), who awakens the idealist in him. Together, with their rag-tag team, they decide to, lo and behold, "do the news". What follows is a retread of some recent headlines treated with more honesty and clarity of thought than we got in real life, or sometimes simply through a lens that jives better with Sorkin's particular politics. The concept itself is a double-edged sword: it binds us to the real world (all news events covered are factual) and helps us engage with the content, but also deprives us of any big-picture tension. Where The West Wing had created fictional characters and had them behave in often eerily prescient ways, Newsroom constrains us to commenting on events that have spent most of their dramatic juice (such as the killing of Bin Laden or the rise of the Tea Party and short-lived Occupy Wall Street).
Deprived of real greater-world drama, the show goes overboard in creating inter-personal conflict. Without spoiling anything, the number of love-triangles/squares and conflicts of interest within the team itself strains credulity, and would never be accepted at any major news organization, especially given the number of professional screw-ups these relationships provoke over the course of the show. What makes matters worse is that not all the casting hits home. It takes a very unique kind of performer to pull off the blend of wit, arrogance and earnestness that are the trademark of Sorkin's characters and dialogue. Emily Mortimer, the ever-delightful Dev Patel, Sam Waterston and Thomas Sadoski walk that fine line to great success, but others falter. Jeff Daniels is just too sour and too good at being an a jerk to convince in the more delicate moments, whilst Olivia Munn does her best with a character who gets short-changed by her own creator at almost every turn. The real chink in the armor, though, is Allison Pill as Maggie, around whom many of the romantic intrigues unfortunately hinge. "Look at her", says Mortimer's Mackenzie to a fellow colleague in the pilot. "She's me before I got older." If only that were so. Where Mortimer sparkles and commands, Pill tumbles about, gracelessly, her lack of charm or likability undermining all her scenes. Only in Sorkinland would male colleagues all fall for her in an office peoples by the likes of the rest of the compelling female cast. Honorable mentions to two scene-stealing pros: Jane Fonda and Marcia Gay Harden.
There are some bright spots. Sorkin dialogue fizzles and a lot of his best work can be found scattered among the three seasons of this show. It's only when you pause for breath that you realize it's not quite that clever...
Still, not the worst way to spend your time.
With that lengthy disclaimer of sorts out of the way, welcome to The Newsroom: star anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) is paired mid-crisis of confidence with former lover and producer MacKenzie McHale (Mortimer), who awakens the idealist in him. Together, with their rag-tag team, they decide to, lo and behold, "do the news". What follows is a retread of some recent headlines treated with more honesty and clarity of thought than we got in real life, or sometimes simply through a lens that jives better with Sorkin's particular politics. The concept itself is a double-edged sword: it binds us to the real world (all news events covered are factual) and helps us engage with the content, but also deprives us of any big-picture tension. Where The West Wing had created fictional characters and had them behave in often eerily prescient ways, Newsroom constrains us to commenting on events that have spent most of their dramatic juice (such as the killing of Bin Laden or the rise of the Tea Party and short-lived Occupy Wall Street).
Deprived of real greater-world drama, the show goes overboard in creating inter-personal conflict. Without spoiling anything, the number of love-triangles/squares and conflicts of interest within the team itself strains credulity, and would never be accepted at any major news organization, especially given the number of professional screw-ups these relationships provoke over the course of the show. What makes matters worse is that not all the casting hits home. It takes a very unique kind of performer to pull off the blend of wit, arrogance and earnestness that are the trademark of Sorkin's characters and dialogue. Emily Mortimer, the ever-delightful Dev Patel, Sam Waterston and Thomas Sadoski walk that fine line to great success, but others falter. Jeff Daniels is just too sour and too good at being an a jerk to convince in the more delicate moments, whilst Olivia Munn does her best with a character who gets short-changed by her own creator at almost every turn. The real chink in the armor, though, is Allison Pill as Maggie, around whom many of the romantic intrigues unfortunately hinge. "Look at her", says Mortimer's Mackenzie to a fellow colleague in the pilot. "She's me before I got older." If only that were so. Where Mortimer sparkles and commands, Pill tumbles about, gracelessly, her lack of charm or likability undermining all her scenes. Only in Sorkinland would male colleagues all fall for her in an office peoples by the likes of the rest of the compelling female cast. Honorable mentions to two scene-stealing pros: Jane Fonda and Marcia Gay Harden.
There are some bright spots. Sorkin dialogue fizzles and a lot of his best work can be found scattered among the three seasons of this show. It's only when you pause for breath that you realize it's not quite that clever...
Still, not the worst way to spend your time.