In its new original series, the Sundance Channel attempt to capture the feel of the independent films it embraces at its annual film festival: realistic, complex human beings grappling with darkness, bad behavior and difficult relationships. Typically, pacing is modest and cinematography picturesque.
Last year, Sundance's first original series "Rectify," set in a small town of Atlanta about a man just released from prison after many years on death row, received critical plaudits. A second season is coming this summer. Sundnace also imported well-regarded French series "The Returned" and New Zealand's "Top of the Lake."
Tonight, Sundance brings us "The Red Road," shot all over metro Atlanta including Cartersville. In this case, the story is set in New Jersey where a fictional tribe of Native Americans live near a blue-collar town. The focal point are two families whose pasts keep coming up in most inconvenient ways.
There are a few recognizable faces, most notably Jason Momoa ("Game of Thrones"), who plays the purported bad guy Phillip Kopus; Tom Sizemore ("Saving Private Ryan" "Black Hawk Down") as his not-so-nice dad; and Momoa's real-life wife Lisa Bonet ("The Cosby Show") as an attorney representing the Native American group.
There's a mysterious murder, a hit and run, lies and cover ups. Martin Henderson plays Harold Jensen, the sheriff with the drunk wife (Julianne Nicholson) and a daughter (Allie Gonino) who has the hots for a Native American teen (Kiowa Gordon) her dad doesn't approve of.
Reviews have been mixed. The Hollywood Reporter said it "has fine acting and a sense of place, but it can't crack the big leagues when the writing lags."
The Boston Globe lauds "a strong cast and finely wrought tone of dread and potential combustibility make it a promising second act for the network."
Hiflix dubbed it "disappointing. It's an example of how the style Sundance has cultivated to this point can go awry — how slow can just be slow when it's not in service to something more substantial."
I spoke with a few of the actors and an executive producer while they were in town earlier this month for SCAD's second annual aTVFest.
Sarah Condon ("Looking," "Bored to Death") had never been to Atlanta but said it wasn't difficult to replicate the outer burbs of New Jersey with the mountains, lakes and forests they were seeking.
Creator Aaron Guzikowski also wrote "Prisoners" with Hugh Jackman, a film shot in Atlanta that came out last year. Condon said he wanted 'to do a thriller that had some real social commentary and intellectual merit."
She said this story is about a clash of two communities with a long past, based on stories they read in the New Yorker and other media. It's loosely based on a real tribe in New Jersey. The two men, Kopus and Jensen, have a bond and have to help each other to move ahead in their lives, even if they don't fundamentally like or trust each other. "They need to go back in time and fix what went wrong between them in order to move forward," she said.
On the surface, Momoa's character comes across as menacing and dangerous but she said he shows more vulnerability as the season moves along. Henderson's cop character starts off as a goody two shoes but has to end up doing some very bad things.
The mystery will be largely solved by the end of the six episodes, she said, but the show's palette can open up if they get more seasons. There are environmental issues where the Native Americans live and police corruption is another thorny topic they'd like to get into.
Gordon, who plays Junior, the Romeo in the Romeo & Juliet plot, said Junior is "biting off more than I can chew. He's a vulnerable kid with this star-cross relationship with Rachel. All the heat around them makes them bond even more."
Gonino, who plays Rachel, said she is drawn to him because he's attractive and dangerous. "It starts to crumble episode three," she warns.
Off topic, Gonino toured with Justin Bieber when she was part of a girl group a few years back called the Stunners which she considered a "mini-Spice Girls" that never quite took. "He was nice," she said. "He called me weird. I am weird." After that, she was booked on ABC Family's "The Lying Game."
Tunie ("Law & Order: SVU"), who lived in Stone Mountain in the late 1980s and early 1990s, plays Momoa's mother who also has Junior as an adopted son. She's wary of her older son and has Sizemore as her ex husband. She and Sizemore will clash in episode six. ""The writers wrote some scenes for my character that are really meaty and I can sink my teeth into." She sees Junior as "a good boy who makes bad choices" and her other son "as an outlaw bad guy who makes good choices."
TV preview
"The Red Road," 9 p.m. Thursdays, starting Feb. 27, Sundance TV
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