Life on Mars, my review-GManitou's cultural moment for the week

On Friday’s I will try and post something that is pop culture oriented. Most likely what I write will be a rant about a movie or television program I like. An occasional diatribe about some incursion into our cultural lives might find its way into this slot, but I will try and keep things positive. However the Friday post will be something specifically not pondering about life, meaning or those evil and diabolical children that carry my surname.

TV is on my radar today. Thursday night TV has long been the bastion of the one hour drama. CSI, Without a Trace, ER, etc, these are the archetypes. ABC has now brought a new tale into the mix. It is called Life on Mars ostensibly named after a David Bowie song. It may actually be a reference to the status of the hero and his location (especially given the recent appearance of a little robot/lander thing in the bushes). The basic plot summary is 2008 cop somehow by means of a traumatic incident finds himself living his life as a 1973 police detective.

The Bowie penned theme song has always been a favorite of mine. Back in the summer of 1974 when I was working at Phil Butcher’s Kurly Kustard on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust were two of the top four cassettes we played. Well, they were the only four cassettes we had. The others were Kris Kristofferson’s The Silver Tongued Devil and I and part of Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol II. Over and over again I listened to songs like Kooks and Changes and Starman. Sitting here right now I can recite the track order on sides A and B of each of these tapes. Ah the smell of ice cream, soft pretzels and Bain de Soliel (on the ever darkening shoulders of those sun tanned Philadelphia princesses).

Moving beyond the show’s theme song, the casting of this particular show is just killer. Jason O’Mara carries himself like Steve McQueen in his Bullet era but with the sly humor of early (less fanatic) Mel Gibson. Harvey Keitel is what he always is, smoldering and intense. No matter what role he takes he is a force on the screen. Gretchen Mol is superb in a low key but dead on performance as a woman in a male centric era. Ms. Mol’s character is so far down the totem pole in the police station where she works she can’t even see the glint of the glass ceiling from where she is looking up. And Michael Imperioli, could he look any more of the era than he does with his Harry Reems' modeled mustache and hair style or that 1970s brown sport jacket?

Then there are the little plot details. Things like the hippie dippy neighbor who brings over cannabis laced lasagna. Oh how seventies. Or the Nixon jokes. Ah how I remember that night in August 1974 when Tricky Dick took the helicopter away from the White House that one last time.

This show has potential. It has good casting, interesting plot nuances and great music. I mean with Mott the Hoople, David Bowie and various funk classic riffs what more could a soundtrack want? Life also avoids something deadly on network TV, hyping the science fiction/fantasy quotient too much. Gretchen Mol was wisely given the task in episode two to tell the hero to back off his theories on how he has gotten back to 1973 or else face the real trouble that their boss will rain down upon his head.

Hey the show may turn to dirt in the next few episodes I have seen that happened many times. But for right now, this is fun. Enjoy it if you get the chance.