The Riches – Season One (20th Century Fox DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B- Episodes: B
Shocking
and bold, that is The Riches. When you can create cast of characters that
lie, cheat and steal to get ahead in life and you still love them, you know the
show is going to be great. The Riches is a fresh series from the
FX Network that infuses comedy and drama to make an entertaining atmosphere of
controlled chaos. The series stars Eddie
Izzard as Wayne Malloy or his assumed identity of Doug Rich, Minnie Driver as
Dahlia Malloy or her assumed identity of Cherien Rich, and their three children
Cael, Di Di, and Sam (played by Noel Fisher, Shannon Marie Woodward, and Aidan
Mitchell). Each character has their own
individual personality, which greatly contributes to the series appeal and
staying power.
The plot
of the series centers on a family of Travelers (a.k.a. – Gypsies or Con
Artists) headed by Wayne Malloy (Izzard), who has been holding the small family
together while his wife (recently paroled) has been doing a 2 year stint in
prison. After gathering his wife
following her parole, Wayne and his family hop in their RV and head back to the
Travelers’ Camp. Wayne and his family
live among many other Travelers, some who like his family and others who loathe
them. Wayne is only a half-breed
according to the other Travelers, as he was not born into the Travelers’ life
or bloodline; which accounts for the other Traveler’s distaste for Wayne
Malloy. Dahlia (Driver) on the other
hand is essentially Traveler ‘royalty’ in one way, shape, or form and some feel
disgusted and betrayed that she even married Wayne. From the series beginning Wayne and Dahlia
are established as each others’ Yin and Yang.
For better or worse Dahlia, Wayne, and their three children are a family
with undying love for each other.
With
Dahlia’s return to the camp the Malloy’s soon discover that the clan’s
patriarch has fallen extremely ill and his greedy son Dale (Todd Stashwick) is
looking to take over and has promised the Malloy’s daughter, Di Di, to a
dimwitted member of the clan. Wayne,
knowing that his family must move past the prying eyes of the Travelers’ Camp,
decides to steal the clan’s money and take his family on the run. Surprisingly the patriarch, who is lying in
bed ill while Wayne takes the money from the safe, does not stop him and in
some way is giving his blessing. On the road the Malloy family runs into some
other familiar Travelers and after some unpleasant exchanges a deadly car
accident occurs. The car accident hurts
none of the Travelers, but is fatal to a husband and wife, Doug and Cherien
Rich.
To
simplify the series, Wayne and his family assume the lives of the two
aforementioned car accident victims. The
Rich’s were on their way to move into a new mansion, in a gated community, with
new jobs; and though their story was cut tragically short, the Malloy’s found a
new beginning. The series morphs into a
very dark comedy in which Wayne Malloy attempts to balance the new life he has
stolen for his family, while trying to keep the family together. The audience is kept on the edge of their
seat as the Malloy’s always seem one step closer to getting caught. For a concept that seems almost unfathomable,
The Riches manages to keep the
series believable, full of emotion, and confident in the face of all hardships.
This
reviewer personally loves this series.
Eddie Izzard has always been an asset to anything he has done and the
sheer talent that exists in Minnie Driver is admirable. Beyond the main cast the supporting cast
seems to have been also painstakingly chosen; every character big or small is
vital to this series and it shows. It is
as though the viewer expects to see each character as a reoccurring role no matter
how big or small the part; only lending to the fact that the series is so deep
and enthralling. For as complicated as
the series may seem and with its dark comedy roots, at hear The Riches is a
drama. Though never the slap you in the
face with tears and emotion type drama, The
Riches manages to pull on the viewers’ heart strings as the series
progresses. No matter how hard they try,
you can always see the pain behind the smiles.
The
technical features of this 4-Disc set are well presented, like many other FX
series that have recently appeared on DVD anything is an improvement over the
horrible broadcast quality. The picture
is presented in a clear, anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 Widescreen with
little distortion. The picture
presentation has a bit of a gritty feel that is ultimately intended, but there
remains to be a degree of light/dark issues; though the color balance is much
improved over the original broadcast presentation. The sound is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Mix that does not impress, but does not disappoint either. The surround sound presentation mostly comes
from the front in the form of dialogue due to the series not being heavily
action oriented. When the rest of the
surrounds are used the presentation is minimal and only used for the series
score.
Overall,
it is a slightly amped-up stereo presentation.
The extras are nice and entertaining, but leave the audience wishing
there were more features offered. The
extras on this set include some audio commentaries on select episodes from star
Eddie Izzard and creator Dmitry Lipkin (the pilot and finale episodes), a gag
reel, a casting special featurette, and 7 Webisodes. Most of the presented extras you could leave
or take, but the Webisodes are very entertaining. The seven Webisodes on this set feature Eddie
Izzard and two of his children costars (Fisher and Woodward) demonstrating some
of their most famous and lucrative cons.
The short Webisodes are funny and you can’t get enough. In the end, it makes this reviewer wish he
was a bit slyer himself.
The series
from beginning to end keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat and wanting
more. This reviewer personally loves
most FX series as they are bold, entertaining, shocking, scandalous, and
everything in between. Nip/Tuck was this reviewer’s personal
favorite for the first three seasons, but the series has seemed to degrade into
more of a meandering Soap Opera as it ends its Fifth Season. The Riches on the other hand (though
only entering its Second Season) has
captured this reviewer’s interest with its great scripts, solid choice of
Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard as the stars, and an equally excellent and
talented supporting cast. The Riches will go far and judging from
the interesting and humorous promotions surrounding the Second Season on FX it is only going to get better.
- Michael P Dougherty II
