Movies and series about mafias and gangsters are something I always enjoy very much. Recent productions that were of top-notch quality are The Irishman movies and the British series Peaky Blinders.
It is fair to say I enjoy the genre. I decided to watch this series because the plot was interesting, it is somewhat based in real-life events and the cast was acceptable with some familiar faces. The story is about Bumpy Johnson played by Forest Whitaker.
He is a major crime lord that has returned to his city after spending several years in jail. He has some business with the Italian mafia but there are also a few issues between him and certain Italian thugs. Relationships between crime lords always seem respectful but the truth is they are trying to stab each other in the back. Plus, there are also a lot of racial and religious issues that serve as fuel to spark big troubles.
The story is not just about crime by the way although it is the main focus as well as corruption. There are also 2 important religious characters, Malcolm X with his very incendiary rhetoric in favor of Islam, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. who was a Baptist pastor as well as a politician and from what we can see in the series, and a little bit corrupt as well.
There is a lot of violence in the series and a decent amount of blood, betrayals, lies, manipulations, and all sorts of crazy stuff that are typical of this type of story. The main character wasn't as charismatic as I was hoping but he still did a good job.
If you enjoy movies about mafias, gangsters, crime, and all the related drama, then you should watch this show. It is far from perfect, and it is also not as good as the best productions from the genre, but I think it is entertaining enough to deserve a watch.
The best
- Entertaining crime series with good acting.
- Forest Whitaker was excellent in his role.
The worst
- In the final episode there is a fight and I easily predicted the "surprises" within the fight. It doesn't have good twists or anything similar.
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8080122/ Review: AAA In numbers: 7.5/10
