What’s the name of this show? Hap and Leonard
When does it premiere? The six-hour event series debuts 2 March at 10pm ET on the Sundance Channel.
Who are these two fellas? They’re both the creation of Joe R Lansdale, on whose novels the series is based. Think of Lansdale as Texas’s answer to Elmore Leonard. Like Leonard, he writes juicy capers featuring messy characters, flowery dialogue and endless double crossing.
Hap Collins (James Purefoy, best known for playing a villainous cult leader in The Following) is a white working-class labourer who spent time in federal prison as a young man for refusing to serve in the Vietnam war. Now in his 40s, Hap is a bit lost and lovesick.
Leonard Pine (The Wire’s Michael K Williams) is a black, gay Vietnam vet, prone to violent outbursts. He was raised by his uncle who doesn’t approve of his sexuality.
Are the pair friendly? Indeed – in fact, they’re the unlikeliest of best friends. The first three episodes, screened for the press, hint that they met as children through tragic circumstances.
So what’s the show about then? Set in the late 1980s in swampy Texas, Hap and Leonard starts out with the pair in desperate need of cash after losing their farm labor jobs. Enter Hap’s sultry ex-wife Trudy (Christina Hendricks), who has a deal the men can’t refuse: help to retrieve sunken treasure off an unmarked bridge, then split the money with her cohorts. Of course what starts out as a simple scheme quickly degenerates into twisted mess, when paths are crossed and Hap begins to once again fall for femme-fatale Trudy.
A seemingly unrelated story centers on Big Bad Soldier (Jimmi Simpson) and his sadistic giant of a girlfriend Angel (Pollyanna McIntosh), as they make their way around Texas, killing strangers for pleasure. They’re physically separate from our heroes for the first three episodes, so it’s unclear how the murderous pair will factor into the series’s second half.
How does Hendricks fare in her first post-Mad Men role? Hendricks can play a femme fatale-type in her sleep – and her casting as the mysterious Trudy seems a bit lazy as a result. She’s effortlessly appealing in the role, but the part doesn’t seem worthy of her considerable talents. In the first three episodes, she’s essentially just a sexy love interest for Hap. She’s not granted much of an interior life.
What about the guys playing Hap and Leonard? The entire show is reliant upon the chemistry of its two mismatched heroes – and thankfully, Purefoy and Williams make for a fantastically endearing duo. The pair share an evident affection for one another. When Hap threatens to stick a cane up Leonard’s uncle’s ass for calling his nephew a “faggot”, you believe he’d do it.
Is the show itself any good? It’s fine. The caper aspect of Hap and Leonard feels rote by crime fiction standards. Screenwriter Nick Damici and director Jim Mickle, who previously collaborated on the film Cold in July, another Lansdale adaptation, seem less interested in the logistics of the scheme than in capturing the seedy surroundings and flawed nature of their two leading men. As a result, there’s little urgency to the proceedings.
The show springs to life every time Soldier and Angel make an appearance. Their murderous rampage is thrillingly executed and totally demented. The twisted lovers energize Hap and Leonard to such a degree that their storyline seems deserving of its own series. They’re enough to keep you hooked.
