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Doubt starring Katherine Heigl, Dulé Hill, Laverne Cox & Steven Pasquale

Posted on September 25, 2017 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Doubt TV series 2017 starring Katherine Heigl

Doubt is a 13-episode legal drama series that was canceled after its first season. It is a shame because despite its shortcomings, it was a fun show with great actors, engaging storylines, and interesting (bordering on hilarious) characters.

I think Doubt lost mostly because it is main/ongoing court case has been done so many times before. Tell me if this jogs your memory:

A beautiful lawyer takes on the case of a handsome murder suspect. He claims he is innocent. She believes him because he is such a nice, charismatic and thoughtful guy. They fall in love, but, oh my god, the conflicts…

The first one I can think of is Jagged Edge starring Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges. While Jeff Bridges was no means a very nice guy even in the beginning, he was certainly gorgeous and charismatic. Those of you who don’t remember Jeff being gorgeous, do watch the film.

Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close in Jagged Edge.

But Jagged Edge was in 85, and even when I saw it in the 90s (hey, I was barely 1 in 85!), it didn’t feel that fresh.

Since then, I have seen” the gorgeous and talented lawyer falls in love with gorgeous and innocent-looking murder suspect client storyline” so many times that I can’t believe this was seen as an acceptable, driving storyline.

Note: The following paragraph includes major spoilers for the legal drama series The Good Wife starring Julianna Margulies.

So why did I keep watching Doubt? For one thing, I was happy Steven Pasquale was allowed to woo the leading lady and stay in the show. He was going to date Alicia Florick in The Good Wife, but writers changed their mind. (I remember a kiss, and maybe a one-time thing? My memory is fuzzy.) But I’m sure Steven didn’t take it personally as writers didn’t choose Will Gardner for Alicia. Then the cute ADA Finn (Matthew Goode) disappeared. Then she hooked up with the hot private investigator Jason (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) but she chose herself in the end? I have too many issues with The Good Wife storylines. I just never got over Will’s death. Oh well… I’m tremendously enjoying its spin-off The Good Fight, though. No Floricks.

OK, back to Steven Pasquale. Then I thought he was going to complicate the already complex and troubled marriage of Chuck and Wendy Rhoades in Billions,

But that ship also sailed as his character disappeared after two episodes.

So yes, even the storyline itself was annoying, it was a lot of fun to watch him. He was made for his part. And hey, I like Katherine Heigl. I guess she will probably always have my admiration and love for her part as Izzie Stevens from Grey’s Anatomy and her relationship with guest character Denny (also played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.) And Elliot Gould is a joy to watch.

OK, so yes, this is a canceled series. But if you like legal dramas, quirky characters, social justice, diverse characters and a great office environment, I recommend the show anyway.

And let’s get to the plot and the characters:

Doubt Plot Summary and Characters

Sadie Ellis (Katherine Heigl) is a brilliant lawyer. She was practically brought up by her boss Isaiah Ross (Elliot Gould) since her mother (Judith Light) went to jail when she was very young. Ross is her mother’s lawyer, and he is in love with the mother, and this has lead to his divorce. They keep working on an appeal, but her mother’s performance and her seeming lack of remorse fail them at parole hearings. She only works, and her best friend is another successful lawyer at the firm, Albert. (Dulé Hill)

Katheibe Heigl and Steven Pasquale. I’d fall for him too, to be honest.

At the moment, their most important case is the murder trial of Billy Brennan. Poster child for white privilege, Billy is a handsome, heterosexual, and rich doctor with even richer parents. 26 years ago, when Billy was a teenager, his girlfriend at the time was murdered brutally. He wasn’t charged then due to lack of evidence, but the new DA makes it her mission to put him behind bars. Billy swears he is innocent, and he and Sadie can’t help but fall for each other pretty fast.

Apart from Billy, they have different cases per episode as well, and they are interesting. There is plenty of time spent in court, which is something we do need from legal dramas.

Fun notes on The Guest Stars

Elliot Gould, who plays Sadies’s boss and father figure, played Ross and Monica’s father on Friends. His wife on Friends was played by Christina Pickles, also guest stars as Billy’s dead ex’s mother.
One of the judges is played by Michael Badalucco, a regular of the hit legal drama The Practice, starring Dylan McDermott and created by David E Kelley.

Doubt: Yay or Nay?

So it wasn’t a hit, but I had fun – until the very last episode. The last episode caused a major facepalm moment.

SPOILERS: (For Doubt and Jagged Edge)

Guess what? Billy is guilty. And Sadie finds out and tells Albert. Oh…..

Was that supposed to be a cliffhanger?

Come on!

They could have Billy innocent.
They could have Billy lose and go to trial.
They could have Billy win, turn out to be guilty and Sadie not finding out.

But no. They had to go all Jagged Edge on us, minus a deadly fight between Billy and Sadie, though arguably, that was what they had in store for us if the show had been renewed.

Both as a writer and reader, I urge writers to stay away from this storyline of gorgeous lawyer falls in love with gorgeous murder suspect client, they fall in love, trial is won, client turns out to be guilty – the lawyer finds out.

Please change it around.

Still, check out Doubt and see if you like it. You can always turn it off if you don’t. And if you are a Steven Pasquale fan like me, check out his also canceled series Do No Harm. It’s 13-episode thrilling ride where a doctor with a dissociative identity disorder tries to keep his psycho identity from ruining his good life.

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The Big Chill starring Kevin Kline, Glenn Close and William Hurt

Posted on August 24, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Big Chill starring Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Jobeth Williams, Mary Kay Place, Tom Berenger, Meg Tilly, Jeff Goldblum. Image: s11.allstarpics.net

Harold, Sarah, Sam, Nick, Michael, Meg, Karen are old college friends who haven’t been able to keep in contact as they planned, apart from Harold (Kevin Kline) and Sarah (Glenn Close)- who married each other and started a family together.

These old friends reunite at a funeral- the other member of the old gang, Alex, has committed suicide. After the funeral, they spend the weekend at Harold and Sarah’s place and try to get over Alex’s death, times and identities lost and catch up.

Now their friendships are as “complicated” as the ones in Grey’s Anatomy or Dawson’s Creek– here’s what I mean:

– Nick (William Hurt) and Karen used to be an item but Karen (Jobeth Williams) and Sam (Tom Berenger) always had an eye for each other.

– Meg (Mary Kay Place) has a little history with Michael (Jeff Goldblum), who is busy chasing Chloe (Meg Tilly)- Alex’s young girlfriend who’s staying at the house as well. Chloe isn’t interested in Michael but she seems to be into Nick (William Hurt).

– Nick is Meg’s first choice as a sperm donor. Oh yes, it is the 80s, she is the modern working woman who is sick of dating and wants a kid from a friend. But of course Nick can’t help since he can’t function down there, a gift from Vietnam. And Sam already had a broken marriage and a daughter he barely sees so he may not exactly jump at the offer and Karen doesn’t love the idea either as she seems to want Sam for herself. Sam is into Karen too, but Karen has a husband and two kids.

– Oh and then there is Sarah, who seems more shaken up by Alex’s death. As Harold reveals to us, she had an affair with him but she and Harold got over it…

So here we have a 8 people with complicated friendships and pasts, a weekend fuelled with conflicted emotions, drugs, alcohol, fun, nostalgia, sadness, broken dreams, love and confrontations.

The movie is one of the earliest works for the most of the cast, most of who are considered to be the finest actors of Hollywood. It is worth noting that Glenn Close was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar and the movie also was also nominated for Best Film and Best Screenplay. The movie was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek and directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

The movie has its flaws and charms, just like the characters. There are things in the movie that almost every one can related to: How you can lose contact with your best friends when life gets in the way or how your life may not turn out the way you hoped it would. And I am guessing the actors’ generation will identify with the story even more.

However the characters- despite the identity issues- didn’t really feel real to me. And no matter how charming the actors are, the characters are just…off. I mean, if your best friend kills himself, would your immediate reaction would be to have a baby with one of his other friends and start making the baby right after the funeral? Not to mention their soap-opera type of histories. And what kind of prick hits on his recently dead friend’s girlfriend, who almost seems jovial at all times? And would you really be that upset if your best who killed himself was banging your wife behind your back? And then there is the lecturing attitude Harold gives Nick when a cop brings him over- about being a part of the community, respecting the cops and whatever while they were all high half the movie?

The verdict: I am not going to lie to you, I had fun watching this movie. It was nostalgic and I love the soundtrack. I like the actors and the director. Despite the reunion happens because of a suicide, the movie is more fun than emotional and sad. There are some great funny lines and scenes and it is hardly ever boring. But had the cast been different, I doubt I’d have watched it.

Overall, this is a decently-acted and entertaining film with nostalgic value. But it is well…fluff. A pretty and quality fluff. You will have fun watching it but if you don’t watch it, you won’t have missed out on a thing.

7.0 on IMDB. A 6 from me.

Fun facts About The Big Chill:

– Do you remember the last movie you saw with Tom Berenger? It is probably Inception where he plays the uncle to Cillian Murphy’s character. Out of all the cast members of The Big Chill, he is the one who bears no resemblance to his younger self.

– The little son of Harold and Sarah that appears in the beginning of the film is the real life son of director Lawrence Kasdan. His name is Jon Kasdan.

– Meg Tilly is an ex-girlfriend of Colin Firth and they have a son together.

– Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Kline work together often. They also made French Kiss and Silverado together.0000

Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Glenn Close and Gary Oldman

Posted on May 23, 2010 Written by ripitup

Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and Glenn Close. Image from http://www.kotiposti.net/

With the collaboration of Russia and USA, a tyrant leader is captured and put the jail. This is seen as a triumph by both countries. However US President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) is skeptical. He is determined to favor humanity over politics and save more people the next time.

It is time for the President to go home on Air Force 1. The plane has The First Lady (Wendy Crewson), the president’s daughter, important administrative staff, his press secretary, bodyguards and a Russian-speaking (led by Gary Oldman) group who is supposed to make an interview with the President and the staff. The plane safely takes off. However unknown to the passengers, there is a traitor on the staff and with his help, the Russian group prove that they are something else all together. They hijack the plane, threatening to kill the hostages. Their demand? The release of the tyrant. The Vice President (Glenn Close) does her best to control the situation. The President can leave in his escape pod and jump off to safety or he can stay to fight for the hostages and the family. While it seems like mission impossible, the president will do his best to use his “General” skills, his intelligence and well…adrenaline…

This movie was fun. Pure, unsaturated action/thriller. So what if Harrison Ford will save the world once again? He does it well and we expect him to. Our Han Solo/Indiana Jones/ Jack Ryan sure has the guts and the experience to pull it off.

If there were any major flaws, I didn’t notice. I was too busy having fun. I liked the fact that all the terrorists spoke in Russian between themselves. It added authencity. While some might argue that we get another heroic President with the perfect family life gets to save the world, along with a little help from his friends (Independence Day, Bill Pullman also comes to mind), it is not like the screenplay writer hasn’t rubbed the viewers’ noses in America’s political sins. Movies like this tend to portray a perfect politician: honest, determined, family-oriented, loving and humane. He also comes with a fondness for football and a good sense of humor. I like this type of fictional politicians because let’s face it, movies are the only places we are going to see this politician. So enjoy his character, root for him and well…let the action begin. I guess I don’t really need to mention that Glen Close and Gary Oldman are good as always. I am yet to encounter a role that they sold and I didn’t buy.

Reasons to see the movie:

– The Cast: Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman, William H. Macy

– The Concept and The Genre: It is so cool to imagine how it would be to fly in that nuclear-war resistant, ultimately gorgeous plane. And action on a plane is a concept I do enjoy.This one is truly well done. It had 2 Oscar nominations: Best Sound and Best Editing.

– The script is good.

Made in 1997. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Outbreak, The Perfect Storm, Troy). Written by Andrew W. Marlowe.

6.3 on IMDB. 7 for the art, 9 for the entertainment from me.

Favorite Villain Quote:

– Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman)- to the First Lady: In a war, people die.

– First Lady: This isn’t war! You just murdered an unarmed woman!

– Egor Korshunov: You who murdered a hundred thousand Iraqis to save a nickel on a gallon of gas are going to lecture me on the rules of war? DON’T!!!!

Six Days Seven Nights starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche

Firewall starring Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany

Gary Oldman Tribute

The Scarlet Letter starring Gary Oldman and Demi Moore

Damages Season 2 Review: Starring Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Timothy Olyphant, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Ted Danson

Posted on November 2, 2009 Written by ripitup

I love legal dramas. I love them even more if they use their thriller potential to the maximum. Up to now, I have been a big fan of The Practice ( starring Dylan McDermott) and Shark (starring the amazing James Woods), along with the absurdly humorous Boston Legal (with James Spader) – where the judges and the juries have to be won with wit,brains and some drilling cross-examinations of the witnesses. So my friend recommended Damages. It turned out to have the most impressive cast of actors I have ever seen on television:

GLENN CLOSE

I like Glenn Close as an actress. She may not be your typical screen beauty but she has an exceptional cool screen presence and she will make you buy whatever character and have you rooting for her, even though the character might be a villain,like the seductress she plays in Dangerous Liaisons. And she is no stranger to playing a lawyer. She has co-starred with Jeff Bridges in Jagged Edge. However this role is quite different. She is a smart, no-bullshit type who never fully trusts a person. She is also not the most honest and ethical person she is going to meet. She rarely loses a case. What sets this show aside though, it doesn’t concentrate what goes on in the courtroom but rather what happens at the law firm her character Patty Hewes runs and owns. Behind the scenes involve enough action and deceit to keep you glued to your seat.

So knowing Close can very well make a great show on her own, I started watching. But when I saw the cast, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

WILLIAM HURT

I’ve been a fan of William Hurt since I have seen Eyewitness, a really good thriller from 1981. I can’t wait to get my hands on its DVD and watch it again. My second favorite movie with Hurt is Dark City, by the director Alex Proyas (who got himself a much-deserved cult status with The Crow in 1994). Hurt’s acting is mostly subtle and he delivers perfect performances all over. So when I saw Damages and realized he had one of the most vital co-starring roles, I got even more addicted to Damages. He plays Daniel Purcell, a scientist who is an old acquaintance of Patty Hewes and asks for her help when he suspects the firm he works for is altering some crucial information to manipulate the energy industry. To make matters worse, his wife is killed. Now, you can never be exactly sure if his character is an imperfect but generally nice man or a sociopath who is just a really good actor or just someone in the gray area, neither entirely evil nor good. Hurt is perfect for this role that keeps you guessing and plays with your perception of him.

TIMOTHY OLYPHANT

I find Timothy to be one of the most talented actors of his generation ( born in 1968, he is about the same age as Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and such). He really can get into character- and he can get into it so well that the next time you see him in a movie, you might think it is the first time you have seen him. Yeah, he can be that diverse. I am not going to get much into his career, I’ll be writing a post on him soon. But let’s say that one of his recent appearances has been in the 4th part of the Die Hard quadrilogy Live Free or Die Hard, where he plays Bruce Willis‘s and actually the country’s worst enemy. He does well as smart and cool criminal. He can also just go and shave his heat and bring a video game character to life as he did in Hitman. Some of his other roles include a bisexual falling in love with his boyfriend’s best gal pal (Advice from a Caterpillar), the “manager” of a porn star (The Girl Next Door) and the misunderstood best friend of a girl’s recently deceased fiancé (Catch and Release). The role of Wes Krulik in Damages is not his first TV role, however. He made quite an impression in the western thriller Deadwood with his leading role.

Here he plays the confidant to Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). A guy she knows from the grief counseling group she goes to, trying to deal with her fiancé’s death. Wes appears to be dealing with the death of his girlfriend and becomes one of the few people Ellen trusts. But then again, this is TV show that we can be sure of the intentions of one character only, and that is Ellen. Wes does seem too good to be true, in deed.

ROSE BYRNE

Rose Bryne as Ellen Parsons — Glenn Close as Patty Hewes in Damages

It is fun to see a familiar face on a show. Rose Byrne previously played Archilles’ love interest in Troy. Ellen is probably the only really good character in the show. She is by no means perfect but it is so easy to empathize with her and understand what she is doing and why.

TED DANSON

Ted Danson is fun. He makes really enjoyable movies and he can be funny and charming at the same time, which is essential for comedic performances. Of course he has been on TV a lot: Cheers was really popular, and as was Becker. I especially loved him in Becker, where he plays a doctor whose bedside manners are not that different from Gregory House ‘s (from the medical drama House). I had seen him as clumsy,charming, grumpy, witty and /or clueless but I hadn’t quite seen him as a bad guy. Here he plays a billionaire (Arthur Furbisher) not so concerned with other people until something drastic happens to him. But it doesn’t seem like he can get away with it, since Ellen is onto him.

BRETT CULLEN AND MARCIA GAY HARDEN

Marcia Gay Harden in Damages — Marcia Gay Harden

It can be hard to catch these two in leading roles but no matter how big or small their parts are, their performances are solid. Brett Cullen plays an executive with good ties and you wouldn’t want to mess with him. He is Daniel Purcell’s (William Hurt) boss. Marcia Gay Harden plays Claire Maddox, legal consultant to one of the biggest firms in the energy sector. However you can’t exactly tell where her loyalty lies. Since everyone is in a complicated relationship with each other and true loyalty is very scarce.

The show is good. There’s enough suspense and drama to catch you on the edge. So I did cheat a little and started with season 2. But it is good and until season 3 premieres, I have a whole season to catch up with the characters’ pasts. Looking forward to it.