Kinnear & yet ...
Dissolute-lawyer tale ‘Rake’ needs to shape up
JUST HAVING Greg Kinnear puts Fox’s new dramedy “Rake” a few laps ahead of the pack.
By the end of the pilot, sadly, it has fallen back and become frustratingly ordinary. It could still be a hit, largely because of K Kinnear. But it n needs to pick u up its game.
Kinnear plays pl Keega n Deane, De a basically ca decent l law yer who has channeled all his considerable skills into behavior that has pretty much wrecked his life and by all indications will continue to do so.
It ’s a fa m il ia r sad stor y, drenched in the television frosting of comedy so we will laugh instead of cry.
The thing is, we still need to know the sadness is there, and not just because the show serves up the most obvious plot cliché imaginable, that Keegan owes more than 50 large to a bookie who could pound him like a veal cutlet.
Instead, the show, like the character, always keeps one glib step ahead of real engagement.
Around t he time we see Keegan walking through town pulling a picnic cooler — don’t ask — the show’s inner sitcom has taken control of the body.
Moments later, when we get to the inevitable glimmer of potential redemption, the show feels just as overplayed in the other direction.
On the positive side, Kinnea r ’s got a st rong ca st around him, with Miranda Otto as his ex-wife, Maddy, John Ortiz as his best friend, Ben, and Necar Zadegan as Ben’s wife, who is also Keegan’s courtroom rival.
The best of the bunch may be K ate Box as Nicole, Keegan’s secretary. She suffers delightfully. “Rake” could pull it together. At the start, it wastes almost as much potential as its protagonist.