REVIEW: "Smith," starring Ray Liotta
With “Smith,” viewers flip from one side of the law — the valiant
global bad-guy chasers of “The Unit,” the 8 p.m. show on CBS — to the
other, as Ray Liotta leads a group of criminals in daring,
sophisticated heists at 9 tonight.
A lot of money appears to have been spent on “Smith’s” pilot, with catchy location shoots and things that go boom. But this cast doesn’t need gimmickry to propel the show. It’s a smart series with a pacing that sometimes takes your breath away. Still, once the action pauses, will viewers want to spend time with a bunch of amoral characters?
Liotta plays Bobby Stevens, a white-collar schlub by day, thief by night. His posse includes Simon Baker (formerly of “The Guardian”), Franky G (remember Fox’s “Jonny Zero”?), Jonny Lee Miller (part of the British invasion of American TV) and Amy Smart, who enjoys every bit of her role as the woman of a thousand disguises.
Virginia Madsen plays Bobby’s wife, who agrees to keep quiet about her husband’s double life though it’s clearly taken the joy out of their marriage.
John Wells, the show’s producer who ran “The West Wing” the last three years, calls these robbers “not a particularly likable group, but a compelling group, we hope.” Hard-edged characters are all over cable TV, on shows like “The Wire” and “Nip/Tuck,” but “Smith” is taking a chance being on a network, where audiences traditionally are on the lookout for shows with “likability.” Also, two shows about criminal gangs have come and gone already this year (NBC’s “Heist” and FX’s “Thief”).
Not for nothing, I guess, is Madsen’s character named Hope.
The show debuts at 9 tonight on CBS.
