American Rust (Sky / NowTV) TV Show Review

"Nobody tells me what to do on my own land. I'm a good shot; I'm not gonna kill anybody. And if I did, they'd be on my property."

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Review

27

American Rust (Sky / NowTV) TV Show Review

Clearly seeking to steal some of HBO's Mare of Easttown accolades, Showtime's adaptation of Philipp Meyer's debut novel shoots for exposing the tragic corruption of dilapidated mid-America, but mostly lands on a reliably standout turn from Jeff Daniels.

Meyer's 2013's sophomore novel, The Son, was recently adapted for an AMC show starring Pierce Brosnan - not that it's easy to find in the UK if you're not a BT customer - and, without any other works to draw from, Showtime has turned to his 2009 debut American Rust, fashioning the loosely lyrical stream-of-consciousness prose into a more clearly delineated work that follows a quartet of small-town characters each desperately trying to avoid slowly circling the drain into hell.

... frustratingly close to impressive

Sheriff Bud Harris has been around the block, but when he gets involved with a married woman, he ends up taking pity on her son - a promising potential football star in the making who just gravitates towards trouble in this small town. After a dead body turns up, Bud is forced to navigate some dark moral quandaries where the truth is often less important than the effect of uncovering it.

American Rust

There's an unusual landscape to explore in America Rust - the titular Rust Belt of America being a product of relatively recent times, watching small towns fall to ruin as businesses collapse and the children growing up within try to escape a doomed future. The premise of individuals desperately treading water - both figuratively and literally pushing each other under just to catch a breath - is a compelling one, a rich and tragic landscape upon which to unfold a story.

It's undoubtedly why Meyer's debut captivated readers, but translating that to a compelling long form TV series narrative is a whole other story, with Looming Tower creator Dan Futterman trying his hardest to wrestle the source material into a coherent voyage, but often finding himself dealing with overly familiar story strands that feel all too predictably trite, not least coming in the wake of the excellent Mare of Easttown.

American Rust tries its best to throw you off the scent, playing a little with non-linearity, jumping around in time at the outset, but its story ultimately can't escape the obvious tried-and-tested choices taken. Indeed, its first few episodes establish a pattern as much as they establish characters, and probably cost viewing numbers in return, which is a shame because the series does get better as it goes along, slow-building to an inevitably tough conclusion steeped in tragedy and - ultimately - pretty damn compelling.

... the whole thing rests on the shoulders of Jeff Daniels

Despite the presence of Jeff Daniels, casting is otherwise a mixed bag. Where the novel posited a number of core characters, the show instead chooses to focus on a narrower selection, partly out of design and partly out of acting talent in command of the parts, with Maura Tierney's femme fatale wife and mother one of the weakest central links (Tierney's insufferable pouting schtick got tired in The Affair, and 9 episodes of sub-plot involving her and a workers' rights dispute is just a killer). David Alvarez's horrific plight as the teen everybody most expected to escape this hell hole should also be considerably more resonant than it is, with Alvarez (soon to be seen in Spielberg's West Side Story) also struggling not to annoy in the role.

Alex Neustaedter's Billy is a lot more interesting, thankfully, as he's a big player, but really the whole thing rests on the shoulders of Jeff Daniels, who reunites with Futterman after The Looming Tower and is on absolutely fine form as the grizzly old sheriff. Indeed, perhaps a better angle would have been to recognise the veteran actor's comfort in this kind of role and give him pride of place - much like Winslet in Mare - as that's the answer to what really works in American Rust.

The show is frustratingly close to impressive, taking some interesting choices in its semi open-ended finale, which is both commendable and - for some, particularly if there's no second season - possibly risky.

American Rust is a 9 part series with all episodes now available on Sky / NowTV.

Scores

Verdict

.
.
.
7

7
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

Where to watch American Rust

Powered by JustWatch

Our Review Ethos

Read about our review ethos and the meaning of our review badges.

To comment on what you've read here, click the Discussion tab and post a reply.

Related Content

3 Body Problem (Netflix) TV Show Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published
Twisted Metal (Paramount +) Premiere TV Show Review
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
X-Men '97 (Disney+) Premiere TV Show Review
  • By Tom Davies
  • Published
Halo: Season 2 (Paramount +) TV Show Review
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
The Gentlemen (Netflix) TV Show Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published

Latest Headlines

AVForums Movies and TV Show Podcast: 25th March 2024
  • By Phil Hinton
  • Published
Where to watch the 2024 Oscar best picture nominees
  • By Andy Bassett
  • Published
Freely TV platform set for a Q2 UK launch
  • By Ian Collen
  • Published
Back
Top Bottom