It’s rough going up against Kobe’s Retirement Party (a.k.a. the NBA All-Star Game) and a Midseason Premiere of Zombie Nation, but somebody’s gotta do it. So — why not Martin Scorsese?
Yeah, I think you may have heard of the guy. Now that, for better or for worse, Boardwalk Empire has stamped its place into Home Box Office history, Scorsese, Sopranos writer/Boardwalk creator Terence Winter and Rolling Stone icon Mick Jagger have culminated more of that N-Y-Gritty in the form of 70s music industry drama, Vinyl…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI6Pg_lIB2M
The star of this 2-hour long pilot, though, is Richie Finestra. Journeyman actor and Boardwalk alumn Bobby Cannavale plays a music exec who works every scene like Hendrix ripping through “Voodoo Chile”. There’s an array of emotions to be had in Finestra’s journey; although he’s now an on-edge, power-hungry dick (with that over-the-top raging bullish temper, because.. Scorsese), you feel for his nostalgic taste in music and humanity. He clearly cares about his artists, their place in the industry and not entirely the bottom line.
But, this is HBO. Finestra is no hero. He’s a bit cowardly in his bravery, actually. He also bows down to his own anxieties. All of the time. But–I’d argue those are the best scenes. Do yourself a favor and watch him joyously crumble during a literal “bringing down the house” of a New York Dolls concert; or melt following a Royal Rumble with radiohead “Buck” Rogers (played greatly by fellow on-screen toughguy, Andrew Dice Clay) that leaves no room for Wrestlemania. All of Vinyl‘s shock works with Cannavale’s demeanor and love for his strong but impatient woman (Olivia Wilde).
Without surprise, Scorsese’s opulent “goodfellas” are all over the pilot: dazed-and-confusing flashbacks (they should have replaced the macho-looking Cannavale during those), biting voice-overs (“I had a golden ear, a silver tongue and a pair of brass balls”), rough and tumble females (even the “sandwich girl”, played Juno Temple, is quite the Harley Quinn; with a subplot that might remind you a little of a 70s-punk version of VH1’s The Breaks), a walloping soundtrack (everything from classic blues to punk to an appearance by Robert Plant), and murder.
But when one usual Scorsese “moment” bleeds to another, Vinyl really scratches its terrential surface. If you took lines like Q-Tip’s (“Record companies are shay-deeeeee!”) lightly before, moments like seeing Finestra’s rebellious bluesman (Ato Essandoh) catch a mafiaesque beatdown — thus crushing both his windpipe and career — you won’t flinch twice now.
The word independence means so much more when you discover the shady and exploitive insides of The Biz. It’s what Vinyl’s creators manage to sing so strikingly, albeit with a familiar sound, with Finestra’s often-mortified, guilt-riddled demeanor nailing every tune.
Vinyl spins every Sunday night on HBO at 9 EST/6 PT.