The Waterfront on Netflix: If you miss you so much … (Critique)
The creator of Dawson signs an Soap disguised as a thriller, which accumulates shots and absurdities. But we let ourselves be taken in the nets of the Buckley family.
After Capeside, Massachusetts and its teens with hyperactive hormones, Kevin Williamson Uss us to discover another pretty little port of the East American Coast: welcome to Haveport, in North Carolina!
The creator of Dawson (and also The Vampire Diaries) imagined a new series full of dramas for Netflix. The waterfront does not do lace – and that is precisely what makes it also addictive.
Inspired by his father’s (true) history – a fisherman who became a drug smuggler in the 80s – this family thriller in 8 episodes aligns the clichés with a very assumed guilty pleasure. We follow the Buckley family, which has reigned for decades over the local fishing industry. But behind their facade of notables well in all respects, the Buckley are on the verge of bankruptcy. Roded by lies and secrets, they are ready to do anything to preserve their inheritance … even at worst.
The waterfrontit’s a bit Ozark in the form of Télénovela : a family plunged into drug trafficking that exceeds it, and which has no choice but to squeeze their elbows to survive. But Holt McCallany (Excellent profiler of Mindhunter) is not Jason Bateman. Despite the strength he gives off on the screen, the patriarch massif is a bit mono-expressive, and the gray and dark atmosphere of the drama in the Missouri is sorely lacking in this improbable story, which ends up ostensibly on the side of a side of a side Yellowstone seaside version …
There is flashy, drama, grotesque, and many betrayals between two outings on the ocean. Everything goes there: an ex-Junkie in search of redemption but ready to betray, an authoritarian father addicted to the bottle, a hidden son who arrives at the worst moment, a ripoux sheriff, a love of high school which reappears, dangerous layers and other marriages in crisis … Kevin Williamson really wrote an SOAP under cover of cocaine thriller. Clearly, it is not Ozarkbut there is still enough to have a good time.
Because the casting has fun too. Around Holt McCallanywe discover an endearing Jake Weary (seen in It follows) which brings a little nuances to to tortured and a Melissa Benoist (ex-star of Glee And Supergirl) Surprising in a role-employment role. And then the old troublemaker of That’70’s show,, Topher Gracearises in drug baron … Did you say improbable?
Yes, it is often absurd. But it is also a Binge-Watch Perfect. The waterfront assumes what he wants to be and rushes with rhythm by chaining the twists and turns. Above all, not to take seriously.
