I am – Hercules!!
A suspense drama from writer-producers John Rogers (“The Core”) and Chris Downey (“The King of Queens”), “Leverage” is about a vengeful former insurance investigator who leads a team of grifters to help the needy. It stars Tim Hutton (“The Good Shepherd,” “Kidnapped”), Christian Kane (“Angel,” “Close To Home”), Gina Bellman (“Coupling,” “Jekyll”), Beth Riesgraf (“Undressed”) and Aldis Hodge (“Friday Night Lights”).
Critics compare it to Robin Hood and “Ocean’s 11” and “The Sting” and “Mission: Impossible.”
TNT’s running it commercial-free tonight, so you’ve got another excuse to watch it instead of “Dateline” and “Brothers & Sisters.”
The New York Times says:
… “Leverage” winds up seeming merely anachronistic, wrapping up with a cute resolution each week, the swine in handcuffs, not torn from the private hockey rinks of their Aspen vacation homes. The trouble with “Leverage” is that it isn’t nearly as angry as we are. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… the show fails only when it wants to make you feel something warm about their mission, rather than just letting you enjoy the icy suspense and snappy dialogue. There is, of course, a lot of recycled material in this sort of thing: the crawling through air vents, the hanging on wires, the hacking into computers, the phony office, the beautiful woman vamping some middle-aged wealthy bad guy, the usual as-good-as-magic gadgets. But I am not complaining. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… "Leverage's" sins and missteps, and there are a few, can often be excused, given that it works so hard to keep your attention. Even if you can spot the seams on this Frankenstein's monster, which is equal parts "A-Team" and "Ocean's 11," "Leverage" sprints along with such energy that you won't have time to dwell on them. … often makes up in moxie what it lacks in sophistication—the stories contain enough surprises and imaginative touches that you don't mind the occasional gaping plot holes or wobbly acting. …
The Washington Post says:
… Although it starts out on a glib, dopey note -- as "Mission: Preposterous" crossed with "Ocean's Eleven" -- the new TNT series "Leverage" develops with surprising swiftness into a decent, watchable action drama about wrongs being righted and bad guys getting what's coming to them. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… isn't worse than a hundred other shows that hang on despite lack of originality. … far from great TV and not even close to really good TV, but when the bad-turned-good guys team up to do their thing, it's a passably entertaining way to spend an hour. …
The Newark Star-Ledger says:
… isn't a great show, but it may just be the exact right show at the exact right time. …
The Boston Globe says:
… the latest addition to an old, durable con genre that reaches from "Mission: Impossible" and "The Sting" to "Ocean's Eleven" and "Catch Me If You Can." …
Entertainment Weekly says:
… fun … Hutton has moved into middle age with cool aplomb: He has done world-weary wiseguy and haughty malevolence. In Leverage, he combines both qualities with a certain disreputable seediness; the result is more appealing than ever. …
USA Today says:
… TNT leans toward the light and silly, and this witty, fleet-footed series ranks with The Closer as the network's best effort yet. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… manufactures fun viewing with its marriage of cutting-edge special effects to an attractive cast full of larger-than-life personalities. …
Variety says:
… aside from an easygoing quality and mild comic flair, there's not much here to steal the hearts of viewers; instead, it's another modest, lightweight addition to TNT's diner-style menu of comfort food for a weary nation. …
10 p.m. Sunday. TNT.
Shipping Now!!
Shipping Now!!
