Review: "Lights Out"

Patrick "Lights" Leary  (Credit: FX)

What better way to help put the "T" back in NYaT than by reviewing "Lights Out," the boxing drama that just finished its first season on FX?  Although I'm a little revved up, having watched the finale just a few minutes ago, I'll try my best to see the forest among the trees.  But if you watched along with me, I think you'll understand how difficult that might be.  Here we go.

I'll start by saying that "Lights Out" is the only fictional sports show on TV right now.  Gone are the days of Playmakers, Friday Night Lights, and Arli$$.  FX somehow stands alone in the sports niche, which I find amazing.  Think about how many successful sports films -- not just comedies, but dramas too -- are produced every year.  From Invictus to Seabiscuit to Million Dollar Baby, sports movies are all over Hollywood.  So how and why has the small screen abandoned the genre?  And how did FX beat every other network to the punch (get it?) by creating a very, very good boxing drama?

For the purpose of this review, the answers to these questions are irrelevant.  I'll let the TV executives figure it out.  I just hope that some other networks meet the obvious demand for good original sports programming.  While they're at it, why not get rid of some of the lousy reality shows that are clogging up the evening hours?  Does America really need another weight loss show?  Viewers can already choose from the following options: Biggest Loser, Celebrity Fit Club, I Used To Be Fat, HEAVY, and Shedding for the Wedding.  Six shows about fat people...six!  I know that people secretly like these shows because they feel better about themselves after watching even fatter people on TV, but come on.  We need to encourage the networks to invest more in quality original sports programming like Lights Out.  Attention all executives -- follow FX's lead.  Here's what they did well.

What

"Lights Out" revolves around a former heavyweight champion of the world, Patrick "Lights" Leary, who fights out of his own gym in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Five years ago, Lights put his heavyweight belt on the line against an up-and-coming challenger, Richard "Death Row" Reynolds.  Lights had Reynolds against the ropes in the twelfth round, but at the urging of his father/corner man, Robert Leary, he played it safe and kept his distance, believing that he would win on points.  The judges disagreed and awarded a controversial split decision to Death Row.

After the fight, Lights promised his wife, Theresa, that he would never box again.  Yet after five years as a stay-at-home dad to his three girls, the Leary family began having financial and legal troubles.  Facing bankruptcy and a host of other problems, Lights begins to box again with the help of his father and his brother, Johnny.  The Learys soon find, however, that the boxing world in North Jersey and New York City is rife with corruption and crime.  Patrick must balance the interests of his wife, daughters, brother, sister, and father with his precarious financial situation, the threat of being arrested and facing a criminal indictment, the integrity of his public reputation, and his physical condition -- he is in his 40's and has taken thousands of blows to the head.  The show follows Lights' comeback into the ring and how his resurgent boxing career affects him and everyone he loves.

Who

Patrick "Lights" Leary is played by Holt McCallany, whom I'd only seen play a bit role as one of the members of Project Mayhem in "Fight Club."  Much to my surprise, McCallany does a good job with the title character.  He never exaggerates how a real prizefighter would react to the challenges that Lights faces, and just as importantly, he is built like an actual heavyweight fighter and his boxing techniques seem very authentic.  Think Kevin Costner in "Tin Cup."  He's that believable.

Patrick and Pops (Credit: FX)

As good as McCallany is, the best performances come from the supporting characters.  Stacy Keach, who played a terrifying neo-Nazi in "American History X," is perhaps the best actor in the show as Robert "Pops" Leary, who serves as Lights' father, trainer, and corner man.  He is warm and fuzzy with his family, but hard as nails in the gym.  He's also the only character that is completely incorruptible, so it's nice watching someone you can trust.  Pablo Schreiber, best known from his stint on "The Wire," plays Lights' brother Johnny.  A former heavyweight boxer himself, Johnny was destined for the U.S. Olympic team until he hurt his leg.  Now he is the business manager of the Leary's gym and Lights' career.  He wastes little time becoming the biggest question mark of the show.  Sometimes Johnny is incredibly savvy and hard-working and loyal to the family, but other times he is unbelievably selfish and short-sighted.  One minute you love him, the next minute you can't trust a word he says.  The jury is still out on Johnny, although I'm sure audiences appreciate how well Schreiber portrays him.

Two other polarizing characters are Theresa Leary and Barry Word, the biggest boxing promoter in the country.  Theresa is played by Catherine McCormack, a solid British actress who has trouble masking her accent and looks suspiciously old to be McCallany's wife.  She quickly becomes a giant pain in the ass due to blocking Patrick's return to the ring, and even when she (spoiler alert!) eventually relents, it takes a while for viewers to forgive her for destroying the 5-year prime of her husband's career.

Reg E. Cathey plays the growling Barry Word.  Barry is a ruthless and conniving businessman who will exploit everyone and everything necessary to control every aspect of the boxing world.  He is willing to blackmail, extort, and threaten everyone in the industry, from public officials to referees.  He only cares about himself and will do anything to increase his bottom line.  He delivers fantastic one-liners and speeches and never misses an opportunity to talk to the cameras.  He is as clever as he is cold-blooded and he always seems to have an ace up his sleeve.  Word is the one character you can't turn your back on, and Cathey does a great job making you hate him.  Of course, as much as you hate him, you cannot stop watching him...

Why

At first, I was concerned about whether and how long a boxing drama could survive.  Can you really make a show last for 3 or 4 seasons when the main character is a 40+ year old boxer who learns in the pilot episode that he may have brain damage?  Yet the writers do a great job of varying the plotlines.  A new trainer arrives before a big fight.  A rising star at the Leary's gym gets a title shot.  Lights suffers a bad injury.  The sport of boxing goes head-to-head with mixed martial arts.  A long-lost family member returns unexpectedly.  The cops threaten to arrest several characters.  Lights meets a friend and former boxer who can barely function due to brain damage sustained inside the ring.  Lots and lots of gambling debts, organized crime, drugs, and corruption.

But it's not just the story, it's also how the story is presented.  Every detail appears gritty and authentic.  Lights' sister, Margaret, owns a classic North Jersey greasy spoon diner.  The family gym has no frills, just like you'd expect in Bayonne.  The men who almost literally hold the purse strings of the sport are the same sort of seedy, underworld types that control America's many real-life boxing organizations.

And the title sequence?  It's outstanding.  Although shorter and less iconic than that other North Jersey drama series (The Sopranos) it's still pretty great.  It hits you about two minutes into the program, after the show jump-stops after a powerful scene or line of dialogue, and it brings you back to the old-school style of boxing.  The bass and drums sound like a boxer hitting a speedbag, and the colors -- mostly amber and gray -- create an ambiance that reeks of the sweat, sawdust, and blood that you might find in a genuine urban boxing gym.  Can't imagine a better intro.



Conclusion

I really liked Lights Out.  You root for Patrick but you don't hate his biggest rival, Death Row.  You admire Pops Leary, but you're still a bit wary of Johnny Leary.  You don't trust the men running the sport, but you know that boxing wouldn't exist without them pulling the strings.  And at the end of the day, you just want to see Lights provide a safe and secure life for his family.  That's why I kept tuning in every week -- to make sure that Lights comes out on top, no matter who's pressuring or threatening him.  So with only 13 one-hour episodes in the books -- and a very good finale that I won't spoil here -- it's worth viewing.

Grade: B+/A-