GRIT TV: Eugene Jarecki -- Remembering the Real Reagan

Eugene Jarecki: Remembering the Real Reagan
GRIT TV

"I think the myth is shattering in front of us," Eugene Jarecki says of Ronald Reagan. Conservatives have tried for so long to "engineer Reagan into our drinking water," he notes, but it's an illusory Reagan, a Reagan who stands for whatever program those people want to pass, whatever agenda they're promoting. The real Reagan was quite different from what we hear about--and this week we're hearing a lot about Reagan, as it's the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Eugene Jarecki joins Laura in studio to set the record straight. He's the director of a new HBO documentary on Reagan, premiering Monday at 9 and available this week on that channel.

Under the Boardwalk

The next big thing arrived on our screens courtesy of Sky Atlantic. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the first episode, as is the case, established the dramatis personae of our story. The detail of the show in design costume and sets is flawless. The cast is a smattering of well knows and a mix of newer faces. It's all pretty much there, as an establishing episode of a sprawling series. Introductions to Lucky Luciano and Rothstein along with a young Capone. The introduction of prohibition and the jazz soundtrack sets things up for a historical rise and fall.

But, and here's the thing, it appears to be lacking in heart. As a first episode I does not make me want to immediately watch the next, nor does it make me feel that i want to follow the stories it begins. Time will tell.

However,for me the biggest problem is the casting of Steve Buscemi in the lead. I like Buscemi and have enjoyed many performances from him, but I feel that in the intimacy of the TV experience his qualities do not shine. Furthermore I just don't buy him as Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson. As the axis on which the series spins it is hard for me to believe in Buscemi's portrayal.

I have avoided Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men references as these comparisons have been bandied about, but such is the track record of HBO that one does expect excellence. On this early stroll along Boardwalk Empire I remain unconvinced.