Lights Out

Finally available to stream after all these years!! I have to admit that I'm not big into sports... but I love true tellings of the backstories of professional athletes as well as fictional sports movies which showcase such tales. "Lights Out" is fiction, of course, but it's like a true family drama first and foremost with boxing in the background and it's fantastic so it's no wonder I love it! Even the music is insanely inspired! Holt McCallany and the rest of the cast turn in incredible performances...however, I don't mean to be mean, but...the exception is Catherine McCormack who is sorely cast. She's physically right for the part, but she over- or under-acts in every single scene.

I'd given up on TV series except for the very popular 3 shows that always win awards (Breaking Bad, In Treatment, Dexter). But I'd heard about this show and noticed the first episode was free, so I watched. I was entranced immediately. The first episode opens on the fighter looking like Frankenstein, almost unrecognizably human. And his character builds from there, a sweet soul who finds himself having to do some questionable things to stay afloat.

I like the way this story is told, in a non-linear but very understandable fashion, giving us chunks of unseen information after its happened, as a flashback. And the writers are slowly building the stakes here, painting our champ into a corner so that you know what he's going to have to do to provide for his family.

Great soundtrack, too.

I was so excited to watch after seeing the previews on TV...and I am glad I did. I thought the show was/is great and the characters are as well. This has to be the best that Holt has ever done. It gives him so much range and emotion. I love this character because of him. They have finally written a part for him that allows him to shine....and he absolutely does in this. I am watching every episode and can't wait until the next one comes. I think FX has done an amazing job with this one. I hope they listen to me and I am not alone out there. For once a show feels real. The characters make you want to watch. I want to see this run for years!!!

The devil lies in the details, and the little things matter, making this show incredibly realistic.(Psychological realism)

Eamonn Walker is a revelation, making one wonder, where has he been all along.Not to mention the intriguing writing.

Along with being captivating and entertaining the dialogues serve as a life coaching mantra.

This show is an inspiration to take hold of life by changing the little things, habits and routines and make the big difference.

This is more than boxing, its human drama at its best!

Give it a try you won't regret, seriously fun.

Sorry for the cliché. Yes, it's dark, and sure, it can be depressing. And for those approaching it with a video game mentality it's not exactly action-packed. But from a psychological standpoint, for insight into a man and a family cornered by bad luck and scummy people, this is some of the richest, truest material I've yet to see on the little screen.

Start - and really end - with Holt McCallany. As Patrick Leary this man gives one of the most layered, convincing performances I've ever had the pleasure to watch. Every gesture, every fleeting facial snapshot, exposes the hurt of a proud man who has to beg for a break, for things to work out just one more time. Watch him have to deal with his children, with his wife, and see the uncertainty of a hard man who hates what he's doing. Except that it's for them, and for himself, and the conflict eats him away like acid. I've never seen him in anything else, but I'd literally pay to watch McCallany as Lights Leary.

The supporting cast falls short. Catherine McCormack as his wife Theresa is a perpetual nervous breakdown in waiting. Her only emotion is quivering, moist-eyed brittleness. Stacy Keach has either lost his chops or, more likely, been hamstrung by his one-dimensional role as old-school hard ass. Reg Cathey as the Don King stand-in is such a leering caricature of cartoon villainy you can't take him seriously. Leary's brother Johnny - Pablo Schreiber - has the odd handicap of a face that seems stuck in a slightly goofy, what-me-worry expression that flattens most of his scenes. The one exception to this surrounding blandness, for me, is Eamonn Walker as the renegade trainer. As an oddball paranoid who's either been born or beaten out of round, he plays the role with an understated, slightly loony intensity that rings weird and true.

McCallany, not truly a physical heavyweight, has learned to spar and train convincingly. The buildup to his fights is slow, excruciating, and wracked with the fear and tension of real battle. The fight scenes grip, not for their verisimilitude but because of the psychological freight they pack.

But, oh - Holt McCallany. Whether you like family drama, boxing, or just studying the technique of a man immersed in character, he alone is worth the price of a ticket. You cannot afford to miss him in this.