FIGHT FOR TRUTH
Roberts stars as counselor escaping her past in ‘Homecoming’
Adecent critic — at least one trying to be one — admits biases. And I have one. I’ve never understood what anyone saw in Julia Roberts.
Wasn’t her greatest hit “Pretty Woman” just the story of a hooker who got lucky? Doesn’t she play the same person in every movie?
I liked her OK in “Steel Magnolias” — mostly they ended up pulling the plug on her.
People magazine named her the Most Beautiful Woman in the world — five times! That just proves she has great publicists.
My thoughts about Susie-One-Note haven’t been an issue before. She doesn’t slum much in TV.
Until now. She’s starring in her first series, Amazon’s “Homecoming,” from “Mr. Robot” creator director/ writer Sam Esmail — and she’s adequate. Truly.
She plays Heidi Bergman, a counselor at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center. She’s impeccably dressed, with a touch of OCD — please don’t move her pen. She answers to Colin Belfast (Bobby Cannavale, “Boardwalk Empire,” “Will & Grace”), a slick businessman who demands data — about what?
Heidi counsels soldiers returning from Syria and helps them deal with their PTSD.
Ehh. Maybe.
Four years from now, she’s a harried, haggard waitress living with her acerbic mother (Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”). “SMILF” star and Brookline native Frankie Shaw plays her co-worker Dara.
What happened to Heidi’s life?
And what of the men she was supposedly helping?
Department of Defense investigator Thomas Carrasco (Shea Whigham, “American Hustle”) would like to know. He’s bothered by some old paperwork, a complaint about a soldier being held against his will.
That would be Walter Cruz (Stephan James, “Shots Fired”), a man whose calm demeanor belies some horrifying memories.
His best pal Shrier (Jeremy Allen White, “Shameless”) is a hot ball of anger and has a lot of questions no one will answer. Shrier doesn’t think they are getting treatment — at least the kind that will help them integrate back into society. Is this just another military exercise?
“What would any of this be training us for?” Walter wonders.
“Homecoming” is packaged differently than your usual drama — for one, it’s a half-hour show. What law stated all dramas have to be an hour? In the right hands, more can be said in less and it makes for an enticing binge. You don’t feel as exhausted from an hour show.
With luck, this will start a trend.
Like “Twin Peaks’ ” David Lynch, Esmail is one of the few directors who takes full advantage of the medium, imbuing ordinary objects with menace — a trio of vending machines, fruit being harvested — and distorts sound to pluck your paranoia. There are tracking shots in the first four episodes that play like homages to Alfred Hitchcock.
As for Roberts, I’m not about to sit down for a film marathon — but I am down for the rest of “Homecoming.”