Federal Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) in his service in the glorious city of Miami adheres to several old-fashioned concepts. He is a kind of sheriff from the Wild West: he wears a cowboy hat, shoots very quickly and accurately, and his moral code conflicts with all sorts of modern police standards and requirements. Therefore, Givens is a big problem not only for criminals of all stripes, but also for his own superiors, to whom the district attorney rolls a head-wash after every next case when Reiland does not act exactly as required by law.
Finally, after the story, when Givens shot down the tough criminal boss right in front of the restaurant’s visitors – he pulled out the gun first – the patience of all the authorities snapped. All the newspapers trumpeted the incident, and the District Attorney and Chief Givens were pressured directly from Washington. All in all, Raylan’s only option to keep his job was to transfer to Kentucky, where Givens was born and raised in a town called Harlan, and from which he fled never to return to that state.
Raylan’s old friend Art Mullen (Nick Searcy) becomes his boss in Lexington Fayette, Kentucky. Art brings Reylan up to date and suggests that a certain Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) be dealt with. Once Raylan worked with Boyd at the mine, where he was a demolition worker, and was friends with him, then Boyd went into the army, and when he returned, he joined the Natsik gang.
Art suggests that Boyd was involved in the recent bombing of a black church in Lexington. At the same time, Raylan was informed that Boyd’s brother Bowman, who once showed great promise, was killed by his wife Eva (Joel Carter), and she had been partial to Givens since the age of sixteen.
To top it all off, Givens learns that his ex-wife, Winona (Natalie Zee), is a stenographer at the Lexington Court, so Raylan will have to meet with her more than once – at least for work.
***
The series is based on Elmore Leonard’s “Get Ready, I Blast” short story about US Marshal Reiland Givens and his adventures. The first season was released in 2010, after which the series lasted six seasons. In 2011, “Justice” received four nominations for “Emmy” and won one of them – for the best supporting actress actress Margo Martindale (very good actress, I note). The remaining nominations went to Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and Jeremy Davis.
I knew about this series, but I didn’t particularly want to watch it because of Timothy Olyphant, who I didn’t like anywhere (especially in Deadwood). However, this series was repeatedly advised to me, and I decided to try it anyway.
Well, in general, I watched the first season in one breath. Moreover, Timothy Olyphant for some reason not only did not annoy, but even liked it here – otherwise I would not have watched this series, because his character there is the main character.
Olyphant was perfect for this role. Givens has somewhat old-fashioned principles, he means instructions that officials who sit in their offices write for police officers and marshals, is ironic, sympathetic, and most importantly, Timothy does without his traditional narcissism. More precisely, if it exists, it somehow does not catch the eye at all, unlike some of his other roles. And I really liked him in this role, and this despite the fact that I started watching with a clear prejudice.
Walton Goggins has been on my list of very interesting and bright actors since the time of The Hateful Eight, well, he also has a place to turn around here: first a Nazi bomber, and then the head of a certain religious sect. He kind of “saw the light”, came to God, and it is clear that he does it very sincerely, and does not break a comedy to use people for his own selfish interests, as many other leaders of religious sects do.
I really liked Eva performed by Joel Carter – a pretty, charming person, and their romance with the character of Oliphant looked quite authentic and emotional. And Bublik and I have a lot of respect for Eva because she shot her husband, who constantly beat her. We do believe that wife beaters deserve at least a bullet in the forehead.
Natalie Zee as Winona is also good. A spectacular lady who diligently pretends that her feelings for Raylan have completely dried up, but we understand that at least a stream, if not a full-fledged river, is still there.
Well, Mike Connor Gainey has a great role, who played the tough bandit Bo Crowder, Boyd’s father, Bowman and several of his other sons from this family. He was great there for about half the series.
The first season runs for thirteen episodes, and it is quite smooth and exciting, with the exception of the ninth episode, which somewhat surprised me with its stupidity and implausibility, where Givens sorted out the problems of Winona’s stupid husband Gary (William Ragsdale). And it was all so strange and so different from the previous series that I would have to stop watching it all if they continued in the same spirit, but, fortunately, with the next series everything went smooth and interesting again. In addition, the extremely curious character Wynn Duffy (Jer Burns) played an important role in the ninth series, who then appears in forty-six episodes, so let’s forgive the writers this jamb with a specific episode.
A curious series, interestingly staged, with colorful characters and good actors. I only watched the first season, I’ll watch the rest and wonder when the series will slide into complete nonsense. But the first season, in my opinion, is quite worthy of watching, especially since it shows a complete story (with some groundwork for a sequel).
PS (Thoughtfully.) Maybe you should reconsider “Deadwood” too? Maybe now Timothy Olyphant will stop annoying? Moreover, they are already releasing a full-length “Deadwood” …
Justice / Justified movie meaning
Director: Graham Wast Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Walton Goggins, Mike Connor Gainey, Joel Carter, Natalie Zee, Jere Burns, William Ragsdale
Series, USA, 2010, 43 min. 6 seasons, 78 episodes