I am – Hercules!!
An action-dramedy from a maker of short films named Matt Nix, “Burn Notice” is about a formerly globetrotting spy who -- having learned that he has been suddenly and mysteriously deemed untrustworthy by the entire intelligence community -- makes ends meet as a private investigator in Miami, his hometown, as he tries to work out who betrayed him.
It’s fun when a CIA freelancer as highly trained as lead character Michael Weston (“Touching Evil” vet Jeffrey Donovan) schools the local thugs in applied brutality. It’s less fun when his mom starts nagging him for favors, or when he teaches a kid how to deal with bullies, or when he ditches the G-men tailing him; these bits feel too familiar by half. Also? The great Bruce Campbell, a long way now from Brisco County Jr., feels underutilized here as a fat, retired intelligence officer who hooks Weston his first P.I. gig.
I’ll need another episode or two before I decide whether or not this thing is season-pass worthy, but a superspy slumming as a Miami gumshoe makes for a terrific premise, and the commercial-free pilot has some inspired moments, notably Weston’s encounters with an overmatched local drug dealer named Sugar.
But what matters Herc’s opinion?
TV Guide says:
… while the deadpan Westen is scrappy and resourceful, the pilot is neither thrilling nor funny enough to earn notice. …
Entertainment Weekly says:
The best reason to watch USA's new spy drama, Burn Notice, is Jeffrey Donovan. … a standard detective story that's brightened by unusual characters and snazzy dialogue. …
The New York Times says:
… the casual irreverence of “Burn Notice” is a little unsettling … cheerfully insouciant about the world’s trouble spots but takes its hero’s inner child to heart. Michael has a soft spot for children, yet he is so emotionally stunted that he cannot maintain a relationship. But heavily armed gangs roaming African streets that evoke present-day Somalia and Sudan are used to comic effect. When Michael is dragged by Nigerian gunmen and tossed into the back seat of a waiting Mercedes, he makes sardonic small talk with the two large, menacing thugs on either side of him: “You know, Mercedes makes an S.U.V. now,” he says. “Big back seat. It’s great. Surprisingly affordable too.” …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… delightful … the show floats along on a spy's-handbook narration that sounds remarkably convincing. We learn how to make a listening device from two cellphones; that "in a fight you have to be careful not to break all the little bones in your hand on someone's face"; that when housebreaking "you want to look like a legitimate visitor"; that a spy's best friend is a hardware store. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… a highly enjoyable hybrid, one that marries espionage and crime stories to a dry comedic tone. The result is a series that will probably appeal to fans of AMC’s underappreciated “Hustle” and Showtime’s “Dexter,” as well as those films starring Bond, James Bond. …
The Philadelphia Inquirer says:
Looking for something new and different on TV? It's not Burn Notice. Looking for some summertime fun? It is Burn Notice …
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:
… "Burn Notice," like many hot weather commitments, is casual. Although it'll satisfy your urge for small-screen action and tug at your emotions every so slightly in the same fleet-footed hour, you might not feel compelled to come back week after week. That's just fine, because you'll always be excited to stumble on this show, and you'll never be lost. … I
The Orlando Sentinel says:
… flashy, erratic action series … sends Michael on a quest to find out why he was axed. But the show also loads him down with too much narration. As the hero, appealing Donovan has to chatter too much. "Burn Notice" also saddles Michael with a forlorn former lover, Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar). Their scenes lack fizz. …
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says:
… the kind of show you don't want to think about too hard, just as it doesn't pay to dissect such glib Michael-isms as: "Guns make you stupid; duct tape makes you smart." Just enjoy Donovan's spirited sarcasm, Anwar's feisty-lass act and Gless' mordant mom. And if you're a fan of "Psych" and "Monk," you probably will.
The Boston Herald says:
… Part spy caper, part dramedy, part boring … The show is an easy fit with USA’s “Monk” and “Psych” - series that are quirky but hardly appointment television. “Burn Notice” has a spark of life. Now, if USA Network would just fan the writers.
Variety says:
… USA delivers a pleasant surprise, if only because so little about the concept indicates how much fun the 90-minute premiere is. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… goes a little heavy on exposition. Far too many scenes open with a Westen voice-over. Many of these are instructive, even amusing, but the technique is overused. Worse, it borrows from a film noir style that is otherwise little evidenced elsewhere in the show. "Burn" is at its best when Westen is outwitting and outracing bad guys, including the FBI agents assigned to tail him. …
10 p.m. Thursday. USA.
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