On a visual and editorial level, Winning Time is a disaster. In every...single...scene, moment by moment, they inexplicably switch the film stock around (quasi-16mm to quasi-super 8mm to camcorder video) and the editor jumps from shot to shoot, constantly crossing the 180 line, at times making the geography and spatial relations confusing...often in a room with just two characters talking! It might be one of the ugliest shows I've ever seen.
However, somehow, some way, it's worth watching, primarily for a few terrific performances (and I do mean a few...there are some performances that are straight up awful...Jason Clarke, looking at you, pal) and pretty sharp writing. John C. Reilly is phenomenal as Jerry Buss, effortlessly oscillating between charming, bloviating opportunist, to an overwhelmed, neurotic hustler who's in over his head. And Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson is a revelation. He truly captures Magic's eternal optimism and charisma and childlike naïveté, as well as convincingly conveying both his brashness and vanity and inner struggle. As a huge Magic fan, this portrayal is both unexpected and more than welcome.
Overall, despite the show's baffling directorial decisions, unpleasant cinematography, and catastrophic editing, the writers and actors have been able to hook the audience in with complex characters and an intriguing look behind the scenes that offer a lot of insight.
Not great, not very good, but entertaining and sometimes compelling.
However, somehow, some way, it's worth watching, primarily for a few terrific performances (and I do mean a few...there are some performances that are straight up awful...Jason Clarke, looking at you, pal) and pretty sharp writing. John C. Reilly is phenomenal as Jerry Buss, effortlessly oscillating between charming, bloviating opportunist, to an overwhelmed, neurotic hustler who's in over his head. And Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson is a revelation. He truly captures Magic's eternal optimism and charisma and childlike naïveté, as well as convincingly conveying both his brashness and vanity and inner struggle. As a huge Magic fan, this portrayal is both unexpected and more than welcome.
Overall, despite the show's baffling directorial decisions, unpleasant cinematography, and catastrophic editing, the writers and actors have been able to hook the audience in with complex characters and an intriguing look behind the scenes that offer a lot of insight.
Not great, not very good, but entertaining and sometimes compelling.