Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
HBO deals winning hand with ‘Deuce’
A “Sopranos” of sex, HBO’s “The Deuce” tells a panoramic story of sleazy old New York with flair and chutzpah.
The drama series puts you back in the 1970s of bad clothes, bad hair and bad habits. There’s so much cigarette smoke, you may start smelling it when the show debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday.
David Simon, who created the series with novelist George Pelecanos, brilliantly depicted environments in “The Wire” and “Treme.” “The Deuce” explores the seedy 42nd Street neighborhood where prostitutes struggle to please their pimps, bars cater to stressed patrons and mobsters prowl in search of opportunities.
“The Deuce” sticks with a tone of gritty drama, examining the world without romanticizing it. Establishing a tone is a major feat. Fox’s “The Orville,” also debuting Sunday, is a mess that can’t decide if it’s a “Star Trek” spoof or a fan-boy homage.
Yet “The Deuce” also delivers dark humor as it salutes those who go their own way in this brutal, tiring world. Hooker Candy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) refuses to work with any pimp despite the dangers. She’s cloaking a complicated past when she sees possibilities in the porn-film industry and seizes them.
James Franco plays identical twins: dependable Vincent, who has a gift for running bars, and Frankie, a reckless gambler. Both men start working for mobster Rudy (Michael Rispoli).
Franco and Gyllenhaal deliver their richest performances in challenging roles. But the writers create colorful dialogue and vivid characters across the board. Also first-rate are Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as an ethical beat cop, Natalie Paul as a determined reporter, Chris Coy as a gay bartender savoring new freedom and Margarita Levieva as a college student swept up in Vincent’s world.
The dialogue sounds like an inspired mash-up of classic theater and street lingo, especially when pimps compare notes. In this dog-eat-dog world, romance can flower, and so can hope. The whore Darlene (Dominique Fishback) becomes fascinated by “A Tale of Two Cities,” and Candy tells a despairing figure that the world is changing.
“The Deuce” takes a frank approach to sex, a clear-eyed view of the past and a steady style to human storytelling. Ultimately, HBO deals aces to viewers.