Thieves and con men are unlikely heroes.
At least that’s the way it used to be on television. But the little screen is starting to follow the model of the movies, where films from “The Sting” to “The Grifters” to “Matchstick Men” have found a way to make disreputable sorts at least fascinating if not always lovable.
Three new series – “Hustle” on AMC, “Heist” on NBC and “Thief” on FX – are exploring different ways to bring crooks into your living room. They feature well-known faces, such as Robert Vaughn and Andre Braugher, and a host of lesser-known actors. In different ways, each wrestles with the problem of persuading the TV viewer to start up a weekly relationship with people who cheat and steal for a living.
These shows are not the first to explore this ground. Sawyer on “Lost” is a former con man; James Garner’s “Maverick” was a card hustler; and “Cheers” featured flimflam man Harry “The Hat” Gittes in several episodes.
But the emergence of three shows focused on the other side of the law is unusual.
“Hustle,” a British import, is the most stylish of the three. Set in London, it is the show most concerned with resolving the moral quandary of an entire series focused on bad guys. It attempts that by having the “long con” gang swindle only people who are greedy and such lowlifes that they have it coming. It’s all about convincing you that the swindlers are actually meting out justice.
While most of us on this side of the pond will recognize Vaughn (“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”), the show boasts a fine cast of British actors. The standout is Adrian Lester (“The Day After Tomorrow”), who plays Mickey “Bricks” Stone. Stone is the charming, suave “inside man” who reels in the fish that Vaughn’s Albert Stroller character first spots.
The path trod by “Hustle,” though, is far safer than the much darker one traveled by the terrific “Thief.” Braugher (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) stars as a career criminal who, as the series begins, has tried to separate his lucrative occupation from his wife and stepdaughter in New Orleans. He is largely successful in this effort, operating a business selling classic cars and keeping his criminal gang way on the side.
Braugher’s Nick Atwater is no lovable rogue, and it is here that the show traffics in the kind of anti-heroes that have made gritty series such as “The Sopranos” and “The Shield” among cable’s most popular offerings.
Atwater is a complex man facing a radical change in his life. Within minutes, we watch him gun down a drug-using associate and then nearly collapse as the death of his wife leaves him distraught and caring for his 14-year-old stepdaughter (Mae Whitman). It’s a role Braugher sells from the first few minutes.
The increasingly complex backstory will make “Thief” a tough show to jump into midstream. It throws in Chinese gangsters from San Francisco, a corrupt cop, $40 million in cash headed for South America to finance U.S. drug operations and a cast of intriguing gang members who may find it hard to shine in the shadow of Braugher’s outsized personality. Linda Hamilton (“Terminator”) even gets a juicy role.
Six episodes of the show were ordered by FX. It debuts March 28 in the Tuesday slot occupied by “The Shield,” which ends its season Tuesday.
The verdict is more mixed on “Heist,” which premieres Wednesday. The premise is similar to “Thief”: A gang of career crooks is assembled by Mickey O’Neill (Dougray Scott) and his partner, James Johnson (Steve Harris). Their goal: Pull off a $500 million jewelry heist on Rodeo Drive the week of the Oscars, when some of world’s most valuable baubles will be in Los Angeles.
As the show opens, Mickey and James engage in erudite banter as they wait to rob a jewelry store. At one point, they debate whether Mother Teresa really believed in God.
Later in the show, as they case a bank, Mickey explains his rationale for choosing a life of crime: “Robbing faceless, hegemonic corporations seemed, in a strange way, the right thing to do.”
Clever quips, but maybe not quite enough to sustain a show about thieves who seem to have few other redeeming values.
But that judgment is based on just the pilot episode. The show’s pedigree is superb, including director Doug Liman (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “The Bourne Identity”) who should be able to make an action/ crime show if anyone can.
Still, there is a whiff of network timidity. Instead of assembling a memorable cast of characters, the show seems to lean more toward the usual suspects. The gang is filled out by Pops (Seymour Cassel), the wizened wheelman; Lola (Marika Dominczyk), the femme fatale; and Ricky (David Walton), the goofy nerd.
Two of the cops – racist, obnoxious Irish bully Billy O’Brien (Billy Gardell) and brainy black detective Tyrese Evans (Reno Wilson) – are so obviously out of central casting they even make a “Lethal Weapon” joke.
More interesting is Detective Amy Sykes (Michelle Hicks), who is on the gang’s trail but also turns out to be an occasional shoplifter who looks like she’s headed for a romance with Mickey.
We’ll see if the time has come for this trio of TV thieves, but one’s thing for sure: Watch your wallet if you tune in.
Staff writer Edward P. Smith can be reached at 303-820-1767 or esmith@denverpost.com.
