Boardwalk Empire

Released: Current tv show airing on HBO on Sunday nights
Drama
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly MacDonald
Directors: There's a lot of them but one includes Martin Scorsese
Running Time: about 1 hour

The breakdown:  During the 1920's prohibition some criminals really made a name for themselves.


What a fantastic show!  I totally didn't think I would like this show, but I really got hooked.  It has a TON of violence, sex, swearing, nudity, you name it, they have it, so put the kids to bed before you start watching this show.
It's based on some real people and others are fictional.  Some events happened, but a lot did not.  At this point in the second season it's so good you almost don't even care if something's true or not.  In all honesty other than some of the absolute basics and some of the characters, most of the work is fiction now.  Either way, it's a phenomenal show.
It's not a show that I thought I would enjoy but it hypnotizes you right at the beginning and you have to keep watching.  There's something to be said when all this talent on screen and behind the camera come together to make one show.  The acting is some of the highest quality I've ever seen for a television show, and the production values are amazing.  The tiniest little details are authentic to the time and the budget is to die for.  The writing is so fantastic, and the storylines just keep you coming back for more.  It's better than a movie just because there's so much more show to watch, week after week.  I cannot say enough good things about this show....You've gotta' see it!  Plus don't get me started on the special effects, make-up, and wardrobe!

There's a ton of characters so I'll try to introduce you quickly.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson - Played by Steve Buscemi.  This is our main character based on an actual person.  He's a politician and guess what?  He's crooked!  His brother, Eli Thompson is the city's police chief so Nucky has it made.  He starts sneaking alcohol into the city once prohibition starts and makes a killing (literally and figuratively).  He's ruthless, coldblooded, but also loyal to his family, but also does what's needed for each situation.  Sometimes, he lies, sometimes, he's there for you, but you almost always can't imagine what he's about to do.  The best way to sum up this character is that he's part time gangster and part time politician.  Aren't they all?

Eddie Kessler - Played by Anthony Laciura.  Nucky's butler and helper around his office.  He's not in the show too too much, but he has some great one liners.  He's very likable and down to Earth.  The actor is actually a very accomplished opera singer so they've used that talent at least one time on the show so far.  I think he's great for comic relief. 

James "Jimmy" Darmody - Played by Michael Pitt.  This is a complicated character at times.  A war vet that got sent home after an injury has nothing to fall back on for work.  He meets up with Nucky and begins working for him.  Nucky kinda' helped raise Jimmy and has been a strong father figure to him his whole life.  When he needs help he turns to Nucky.  He has a wife and child at home to take care of and he really does what he can to provide for them.  He has a very young and sexy mother who does burlesque style dance, and is at times, sisterly towards him, and motherly at others.  She obviously was was too young to have Jimmy and take good care of him, but she looks out for him now, though she's also very nosey and controlling.  Jimmy's father is the Commodore.  Someone who basically sexually assaulted Jimmy's mom when she was a very young girl who was brought to him like a gift.  His parents had a relationship to some degree, but it certainly wasn't love.  He makes friends with Richard Harrow and brings him into our story much later in the season.  Jimmy also makes friends with Al Capone, and is a dangerous man himself even without Nucky pulling the strings.

Margaret Schroeder - Kelly MacDonald.  This lady is such a good actress.  The only other role I've seen her in is the wife of James Brolin in No Country for Old Men where she played a southern woman with a strong southern accent.  She's really Irish and has a strong Irish accent so here she gets to use it as she plays an Irish Immigrant.  Her character has really changed this season from the first one so I'm not liking her so much anymore.  The more they show of her behavior and attitude the more you see she isn't the nice person they portrayed her as in the beginning.

Agent Nelson Van Alden - Played by chameleon-like Michael Shannon.  Everytime I see this guy, he IS his character, no matter what show or movie.  He's really very good.  In this role his character is SO not what he seems.  He works for the FBI, is married, is very repressed, and is after Nucky big time!  He is one seriously messed up son of a bitch.  He tells his extremely religious wife that they shouldn't have a baby if God doesn't want it (in fact, he is the one who doesn't really love her and doesn't want a baby.)  He cheats on his wife.  He kills people he just doesn't like.  He skirts the law and does just about anything he can to get the bad guy.  Look out for this one!  He could fool just about anyone into thinking he's this nice family man who upholds and protects the law instead of breaking it.  He's absolutely mad, but so interesting to watch lose control.

Elias "Eli" Thompson - Played by Shea Whigham.  This character is not very intelligent when he makes decisions.  He always gets into situations he shouldn't and sticks his nose into things he shouldn't.  Nucky has to bail him out a lot and sometimes Eli really doesn't appreciate the help of his brother.  Very well acted and well written.

Al Capone - Played by Stephen Graham.  This guy IS Al Capone.  He does a great job, but they haven't delved into his character as much as the others.  He's kinda' a side player for now.  But the actor is Irish with a heavy accent to match so when I heard him speak with a very authentic Italian accent I was floored.  He's so good!

Angela Darmody - Played by Aleksa Palladino.  This is a complicated character.  So complicated that I don't want to ruin the surprises she reveals, but she is certainly not as she seems to be.  Very well acted you totally believe the actress playing her.

Lucky Luciano - Played by Vincent Piazza.  Everything you expect of this well known gangster is here in this show.  Another well acted and well written character but like Al Capone, he's a side player for now.

Lucy Danziger - Played by Paz de la Huerta.  I've never seen this actress in anything else, but I think she was born to play this role.  She's basically a prostitute, but she stays with Nucky as much as she can for his level of money.  She thinks she's high class, but she really isn't.  She's very threatened by other women and is very untrustworthy and willing to turn on anyone in a second if there's revenge to be had or money to be made.  She's a very damaging and dangerous character in the sense that she will expose anyone if she can profit from it, and she knows a LOT of things about people that shouldn't get out.

Chalky White - Michael Kenneth Williams.  Wow this guy is good!  This character is friend to almost all in his black community.  He tries to watch out for his own and takes good care of his family, but he's a loaded cannon ready to fire whenever there's trouble.  He's ready to overreact in most situations, but he listens to Nucky and does what's best for both.  Usually he's cooled off before he does anything very rash.

Arnold Rothstein - Michael Stuhlbarg.  Man this actor totally nails this role.  He plays a cool cunning character based on a real person.  You might not recognize his name at first, but this was the guy that tried to fix the 1919 world series with the Chicago White Sox.  Always looking for opportunity this guy knew when to hold 'em, fold 'em, and walk away.  This actor is so brilliant in this role you can't take your eyes off him.  He's that interesting, so smart, and so calm no matter what.  But don't cross him or try to pull one over on him.

Commodore Louis Kaestner - played by Dabney Coleman.  He's such a great bad guy and a great actor.  He sinks into this role and it seems like he was born to do it.  This is Jimmy's real father, and someone who had control over Atlantic City years before Nucky ever came along.  He's slowly building a relationship with his son and Gillian Darmody (Jimmy's mom), but it's awkward and strange at times.  He's bed ridden at the beginning of the series but that changes in a way you don't expect later on.  He has big dreams of being on top again somehow, but Nucky's in his way.

Gillian Darmody - played by Gretchen Mol.  This is a character that really gets under my skin.  As a young girl the Commodore impregnated her with Jimmy and she couldn't barely take care of him and herself so she turned to Nucky.  She works as a burlesque dancer and still doesn't act like a good mother should.  She's sometimes controlling, but always playing the angle that fits her needs the most.  Wonderful actress, but the role is just so manipulating.  Her and her son have a relationship that goes beyond healthy, but they are both damaged people.

Richard Harrow - Played incredibly by Jack Huston.  This is one of the most interesting characters and the one I'm most intrigued with.  He is a war vet that lost half of his face to an explosion.  Back in the 20's of course, they didn't have the level of reconstructive surgery we do today, so they made people like this wear tin masks to recreate their faces.  This character has a balance of sadness, sensitivity, and tenderness, but also he is an amazing sniper, so he has to be cold blooded to kill whoever he is told to.  You feel sorry for him because underneath you can tell all he wants is to have a normal life and have someone love him the way he is.  He's smart and kind (strange to say of a killer I know) and tortured by how he looks and how people shy away from him. SO thoroughly interesting!!!  I've completely fallen in love with the character (though the actor is pretty darn cute too) and I can identify, in part, with his emotional struggles.  There is something about Richard that draws you in and you can't help but feel something for him.  My favorite character by far!

If you love a good story with amazing characters you gotta' see this show!

I give it 5 out of 5 remote controls because it quite possibly is the BEST television show I have ever seen.