nbtvfans
11-28-2009, 10:30 AM
It starts out with, unquestionably, the cheesiest television score I've heard of Boston Legal (http://www.dvdmsn.com/US$77.00-Boston-Legal-DVD-Complete-Seasons-1-5-box-set-p-591.html), since maybe, the "Mister Ed" theme song, which was at least pithy; this is just clowny and really really annoying. And I don't know what the HELL happened to David E. Kelley's production skills; the whole quasi-documentary approach with hand-held cameras wracking focus out of nowhere, is beyond passé. When you believe the audience needs jerky camera movements to provide impetus in a series, that's a worrisome vote of no-contest from the executive office. Some of the cast, as well, is just bland window dressing. I speak primarily of Mark Valley, who lately, has made a much needed burlesque out of his woodenness, but before that was as much a doorstop as anything else. Nor do I like the women on the show. They're heavy-handed and unconvincing; for the most part, 60's soap opera actors. Even Candice Bergen doesn't seem to know what she's there for. They hand her character new situations, even a lurid past, and she marches through her scenes like a Victorian schoolmarm. So what's the deal here? The DEAL, friend reader, is James Spader and William Shatner, their chemistry, their superb acting skills, the way they plug into and feed off of each other with increasingly effortless skill and almost revolutionary invention. There's ALWAYS something new to see, ALWAYS. And when you drop them into the slot with the lesser cast members, they get them going, too, pushing them into areas they might never have gone into otherwise. I bought complete Boston Legal Box Set (http://www.dvdmsn.com/US$77.00-Boston-Legal-DVD-Complete-Seasons-1-5-box-set-p-591.html)A prime example is Mark Valley; great looking, but certainly not one of the most inspiring of actors. So what did they do? Somewhere along the line they forced this guy to confront his blandness, quadruple it, and push it back into the face of the audience, where it belongs. Blandness has become his character's DISEASE. A prime example is when, during a perfectly wonderful office romance with a beautiful partner, he becomes knocked out of joint upon hearing the word, "vagina", used by this adorable female. He takes the ball and absolutely RUNS with it. And don't think for a moment, Spader and Shatner had nothing to do with that. The shtick between straight-laced Bergen and Shatner, where, upon hearing her whisper his own name in his ear, he is brought almost to orgasm, is amazingly funny. But Shatner wasn't always like this. For years, even though a beloved actor, he had a reputation as a snob, a jock and the worst victim of the 'star mentality'. He became incensed when his LP, a horrendous piece of crap, was savaged in the press.