Maybe network TV is getting better. How else to do explain the growing number of big screen stars who have been lured into a season—or perhaps two—of television? James Woods has a new series (CBS’ Shark). So does Sally Field (ABC’s Brothers & Sisters).
But the topper has to be CBS’ hour-long drama Smith, which premiered Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. It stars Ray Liotta, as Bobby, the head of a small band of master thieves contracted to do various high-risk heists for a mysterious woman named Charlie (House of Sand and Fog’s Shohreh Aghdashloo). The rest of the group includes smooth operator Tom (Trainspotting’s Jonny Lee Miller); Jeff (The Devil Wears Prada’s Simon Baker), a sniper with a hair-trigger temper; the femme fatale, Vegas showgirl Annie (Crank’s Amy Smart); and the driver, Joe (Franky G). Oh, and there’s also Oscar-nominated Virginia Madsen, who plays Hope, Bobby’s unsuspecting wife (or is she?).
The show opens with a museum heist-gone-awry in which one of the robbers gets shot. Since everyone is wearing porcelain masks, we can’t tell which one–but whoever it is, it’s not looking good for them. The show then goes back a few days in time to the sting’s set-up and the players’ introductions: Jeff doesn’t seem to have a moral core, after coldheartedly gunning down two surfers who hassle him; Joe, a body-shop owner, brings in a new guy to handle the demolition and may have a thing for the guy’s wife; Annie is a real piece of work, running credit card theft operations on the side, and has some major history with Tom, who has just been released from prison—a stint which may or may not have been caused by Annie.
But the real story is between Bobby, Hope and their young family. He wants to go straight and be an Average Joe but lies to his wife in the meantime. Thing is, Hope looks like she knows what Bobby’s been up to–and she has a few skeletons in her own closet, being that she’s a recovering drug addict.
Who got shot, by the way? Obviously, the only one not named on the main cast list.
Overall, it definitely pays to have more seasoned performers. The talent and chemistry is palpable, especially between Liotta and Madsen. Miller and Smart also have great potential, as does Baker as a burgeoning psychopath. Co-creators Christopher Chulack–best known for producing ER–and John Wells, who also comes from feature films, keep the dialogue crisp and the action moving. In the end, Smith leaves you with a bunch of questions, such as who’s Charlie and why does she want all this stuff stolen? That’s usually a good sign. The set-up, unfortunately, may be the show’s downfall. If they have to come up with a new heist each week, it may get tiresome.
Bottom Line: Think Ocean’s Eleven meets Heat. Smith could blossom into a tightly wound drama–that is, if the high-risk robberies each week don’t get too over the top. Or worse–mundane.
