The Deuce

I wrote about "The Deuce" on my Forbes blog here. I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. Generally, I'm not much of a fan of David Simon; too much I AM TRYING TO MAKE A POLITICAL POINT and not enough internal turmoil. Where is "The Deuce"'s Tony Soprano? You will not find it in James Franco's porny twins sitting in front of a mirror in a bar. Probably the best thing about the show is Maggie Gyllenhaal's Candy -- that hooker with a heart of gold and, in this case, a complicated soul. She's probably the most nuanced thing about the show, refusing to fall prey to Simon's terminal heavy-handedness and forever case of the seriousnesses. Candy is sweet, and predatory, and careful, and reckless. There's a sweetly complex scene that Gyllenhaal drives in which Candy turns a young trick, and deftly. Something about the scene where he squeezes her boobs, and when she subsequently subverts what you think the sex worker-john dynamic is demonstrates the humanity you find in unlikely places. As for porn, there's little of it. That's coming, apparently. For now, the players are setting the scene. I'm curious to see where it goes. I try and remain optimistic.