Joey Pantoliano is a great actor. I think he is now doing some of his best work in TV.
He takes center stage as Mayor James 'Jimmy' Centrella (in Providence, Rhode Island)and steals the show in every scenes that
he is in the pilot for the midseason series, WATERFRONT. Jimmy has some ethical questions surrounding him as he tries to make
the city good. It isn't easy when his former deputy mayor is about to be indicted, the deputy mayor's replacement doesn't
want the job at first, and his teenage daughter causes him grief (part of it is due to his own ego). Jimmy is a charming guy
who just happens to be the center of attention and wants things his way all the time. Joe manages to carry the character with
such energy and make the guy you want to be your mayor.
WATERFRONT is a very active pilot. Several storylines intertwine as we see the grease in dirty politics. Daniel Baldwin
is the Attorney General and Jimmy's oldest daughter happens to work for him as a lawyer. The new deputy mayor seems out of
his depth as he discovers how screwed up the system of running a city is. Meanwhile, Jimmy tries to keep organized crime out
of the city government. He wants to owe nothing to them and tries to keep it that way. He gets in enough trouble over trying
to fire his pain-in-the-ass city police chief, but the headlock scene in the mayor's office is one of the best scenes in the
pilot.
Other than the mayor's problem's, the attorney general is trying to prosecute a retired baseball star that the police chief
just want to cover up the drunk driving. A newspaper editor publishes the name of the witness (which pisses off the AG and
the mayor).
Given how SMITH has already been cancelled, maybe CBS should give the 10 pm slot after THE UNIT to WATERFRONT. It would
be a dynamic triple header for Tuesday of NCIS/ THE UNIT/ WATERFRONT. WATERFRONT has some heart and humor while showing the
corruption in city government at the same system. A system that can't be fixed overnight and might never be totally fixed.
Too bad CBS decided to shelve the series after 4 additional episodes were filmed due to many reasons including high production
costs.
this review is (c)10-13-2006 David Blackwell (updated on 11-4-2006) and cannot be reprinted without permission (except
for excerpts and a link to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
