Dr. Pepper and cigarettes are to the lead character in Taylor Sheridan’s latest nugget of gold in the television domain – an easily digestible combination. Having won an Academy Award, Billy Bob Thornton played the central character in the series – the lead character can be termed as an A-list star and once again the audience is pleased with the small drama series. Cheesy title? Uninspiring Yellowstone trailers? Don’t be fooled – Landman, based on the successful and similarly titled podcast by Christian Wallace, is great on its own. There is a plot to American dramatic comedy with West Texas oil industry and its many folds as a backdrop with the charming correlation of Billy Thornton’s comedy – all very entertaining in how the story unfolds throughout the season and leaves you wanting for more with every turn of the plot.
This is a story set in modern times, though set in the world of cowboys, with the western genre being there all along with a mixture of dark comedy, thriller, and drama that is so satisfying that you would end up watching multiple episodes in one sitting. Sheridan needs no description when it comes to intricate storytelling as he ensures that the viewers get to enjoy the build-up to incredible plot turns in a single episode and pain the viewers for the next episode. And considering how the much-appreciated second season of Sheridan’s Lioness goes on, one would not be surprised if we hear about the sophomore season of Landman much later.
Some actors end up in the crosshairs of criticism for their identity politics in drama roles, but it seems that the overall criticism gets neutralized in their case. Sometimes it is best to stick to the original. Thornton obviously has range, from Fargo to Sling Blade, which certainly proves he doesn’t just have to play the foul-mouthed cynical anti-hero. But Sheridan understood that this particular hero was most suited to the new series, and he deliberately shaped it with the actor. Given the single-minded ambition of the character portrayed by Thornton – Tommy Norris, who has always been at ease in such roles – there are good reasons to believe that Landman remains TV-MA. It is A Beautiful Synthesis of His Comedy And His Credibility As A Dramatist.
“Landman” The actor’s character Tommy is in Texas, where he has to deal with several important matters including an unreasonably aggressive superior, Monty (Jon Hamm), who has some perfect and unquestionable iPhone business etiquette when it comes to clubhouse family interactions as well as when having heated calls. We then have Tommy’s coordinations of the lower levels, and his co-housemates Nathan (Colm Feore) and Dale (James Jordan) are roughnecks and structurally challenging people.
Tommy, Nathan, and Dale try their hardest to keep the local sheriff, Mark Collie, from getting involved in their affairs whenever something is messed up down at the rigs. That is where Tommy’s striving adult son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), ought to be working instead of his elders telling him that there are better, less hazardous jobs for someone with his college degree. Although Cooper wishes to look for other kinds of jobs, he ends up working at the rigs and is intro- duced to the heavy machinery by Armando (Michael Peña), who guides him toughly on how to operate it so that he doesn’t end up blowing himself up or something similar.
In this way, Tommy is a hard-drinking, chain-smoker who spends his day dragging his pickup truck from one fowl business meeting to another. Added to the woes is the fact that he has also to cope with the pieces of broken family that ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) and he managed to establish in the past. They are estranged but reside so close to each other and have a son, Cooper and a 17 year old care-free daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) living around causing sufficient chaos to keep into their own brand of friendly mayhem.
This is true because every single day the business dad, married with three kids, has always the most interesting doctor-like task – drama from the management chain in the form of a new lawyer in town by the name Rebecca (played by Kayla Wallace), who was summoned to fact-find and whitewash the oil tycoons’ liability yoke, which followed a recent mishap at one of the oil rigs. And she is one in a long list of partners that Tommy now has to dance with if he wants to avoid being legally hounded while making sure that his employees do not feel abandoned by their absentee owner. It must be easy being “landman” Tommy, who is in fire-fighting mode every hour of the day every day of the year, right? Quite the opposite! Very exhausting, I am sure for “landman” Tommy, whose rear is in the hot seat 24×7.
We gradually get more fond of Tommy throughout Season 1 because we’re reminded almost every time of his struggle and small victories. In a way, it’s quite similar to how they are able to watch his work in Tulsa King, because comedies are something that cuts both ways. To this end, it actually only requires a single episode to get you addicted to the offensively hilarious antihero that is Sheridan’s character. Believe it or not, even when doing all this sneaky business, sometimes Tommy has a lot of useful things to say in between about the oil business, which a wise-guy narrator does quite a great job of.
For all of the exposition, the voiceovers and their ‘show don’t tell’ approach can mostly be excused because, well, it is Mr. Thornton who says them and most people working in his business have that cynicism. It’s a pity fellow A-listers Jon Hamm and Demi Moore do not have the same strikingly dark edge, but they do have some moments in which they’re fashionable as the power couple in the oil industry, witnessing the heavy lifting from under lord and make billions.
Apart from Thornton’s dominant on-screen presence, one of the factors that makes Landman appealing to its viewers is its unique, realistic, yet engrossing feel during those climatic moments at the rigs- and greene screens are not even needed. Those explosions and sometimes quite dangerous devices that the stars use throughout the Entire Season, which contributes to the atmosphere of the show have been confirmed in our last interviews with the cast. While it may appear to be partially overshadowed by the great height posed by Yellowstone, Landman gives a whole different perspective to what have come to be associated with the Southern parts of America, giving further room for exploration for Sheridan.
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