Tom Fontana has contributed to some of TV’s best, most probing dramas (“Homicide: Life on the Street” in the 1990s and “Oz” in the late ’90s and early 2000s). Now the Emmy Award-winning producer returns to TV with the best pilot of the season — and it’s not even on the fall schedule.
“The Philanthropist” premieres Wednesday on NBC, at 9 p.m. on KUSA-Channel 9. Here’s hoping that the hour earns a place on the slate going forward.
Inspired by the story of Bobby Sager, real-life entrepreneur turned Third World benefactor, the drama weaves a tale for the times about a heroic billionaire/ playboy/vigilante/philanthropist.
Consider “The Philanthropist” Fontana’s post-boom reckoning, a narrative ripe for a time of changing priorities.
The hour’s initial appeal is its eye-catching look: a fast-moving mix of cool graphics, action, drama, flashbacks and emphatic but not distracting direction, with the camera underscoring unexpected moments. But it’s the central, self-deprecating character who carries the show.
James Purefoy (“Rome”) is magnetic as Teddy Rist, a clearly wounded tycoon who impulsively devotes himself to helping those in grave need.
Along the way to doing good, he does well at landing supermodels. He recounts his adventures with a literate, English style. “Bacchanalia,” he explains, “is a Greek word for just way too much of everything.”
He denies being the hero, preferring to see himself as a reckless, impulsive man-child. Of course, he’s both.
When he runs into a comely barkeep in a remote part of the world, after trying to get a shipment of cholera vaccine to a Nigerian village, she doesn’t believe he’s Teddy Rist, thinking he’s just a pickup artist.
“I will give you $1,000 to keep listening and pouring,” he says. By this point we’re hooked on his tale, even without the thousand bucks, and so it’s easy to buy in as Teddy unspools back story, introducing the characters in his globe-trotting life.
A fiction about reality
Jesse L. Martin (“Law & Order”) plays Philip, Teddy’s business partner and friend. Neve Campbell (“Party of Five”) plays Olivia, Philip’s wife, who runs the company’s charitable foundation. The firm is so connected that it can get prime ministers, ambassadors and the Obamas on the phone instantly. Customs agents relent, armies stand down, DEA thugs are called off, and helicopters appear when Teddy needs them.
Teddy has a complex history with his ex-wife (played by Krista Allen of “The Starter Wife”), still to be explored. He admits to having “more than my share of demons.”
But the wild and high-living tough guy has a very real soft spot. We learn that the as-yet- unexplained loss of the couple’s young son is Teddy’s motivating force. The pilot involves his saving a young Nigerian boy — but, “in an odd way,” he says, “he saved me.”
Given a lesser actor, the combination of machismo and vulnerability might have come across as cliche, but the charismatic Purefoy makes it credible.
The supporting cast is also eminently watchable, distinguished by Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar on “The Wire”) as Dax, Teddy’s driver/bodyguard.
Fresh cinematography, a score infused with African music and smart direction by Peter Horton (“Grey’s Anatomy”) contribute to the charm of this international co-production (with Britain’s Carnival Films), refreshingly set beyond the usual U.S. workplace.
“I’d spent my life watching from a distance, from behind tinted glass,” Teddy says. “I couldn’t do it anymore. I stepped out, and a most amazing thing happened. . . .”
On some level, it’s possible the audience is being invited to step beyond the glass, too, being encouraged to engage in real charitable works, or at least in real emotions.
Teddy witnesses an African initiation ritual that is exotic to the American audience. But wait: The scene conveys the idea that African culture isn’t so remote. Not just because our president’s family roots trace to Africa, the world is smaller than ever. It’s a leap, but maybe this is our initiation, too?
What if the world could have a moment of realization like Teddy’s, even without his billions? The idea of “return on investment” begins to mean something different, to “The Philanthropist” and to us.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
