Television Whitenoise: Leverage

Cast: Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Alec Hardison, Christian Kane, Eliot Spencer, Beth Riesgraf, Gina Bellman.

Okay, well, when I sat down to watch this I didn\’t know it was a remake of a British show – would that have coloured my opinion? Maybe, considering that trend kind of peed me off recently, suggesting, as remakes do, a dearth of original ideas. I never watched Hustle though; it was one of those programs I managed to miss the whole time that it was on for some reason, but I had wanted to watch it. Anyway, now that has a lot to live up to if I ever see it.

From the initial sighting of the trailers I was interested in this – partly to do with Timothy Hutton and Bellman, but mainly to do with the way it sold itself: slick and smart, a well-executed piece of television. I mean, there is always the danger that this was just going to be the trailer and not the whole package, but I am happy to report that this was not the case with Leverage: it didn\’t disappoint.

As a first episode it had a lot to do – introduce the cast, establish a dynamic, suggest a back history and point the way towards the future, all this done whilst actually telling a story, and it managed to do that well. It was an entertaining hour that had the spirit and production values to match its ambition – it reminded me in places of Ocean\’s Eleven at its best and that is pretty good.

We\’ll see how it develops but I definitely think this is one to watch.