American Crime Story

When I read the critic's reviews of this fascinating portrayal of the trial of OJ Simpson, the most common complaint was John Travolta's performance. So I was expecting to find it a bad, cheesy performance and everyone else to be great.

Instead, I thought Travolta did an excellent job as a supercilious attorney who finds himself increasingly outside his own case. True, Travolta has had so much plastic surgery that he looks like he was sewn together by a dollmaker, but his performance is, while not as notable as the really terrific performances by Nathan Lane and, more surprisingly, David Schwimmer, it's a solid performance.

The truly awful performance is by Cuba Gooding as O.J.

When I watched the movie, I thought Gooding seemed wrong based on my vague memories of O.J. I'm not a sports fan, I didn't follow the trial, which at the time I thought of as just another lurid celebrity crime, and I'd only seen Simpson in a small part in a movie years ago. I thought Gooding's whiny, unpleasant, crybaby performance seemed untrue to that memory, but I couldn't be sure.

Then I watched the terrific documentary series. O.J., Made in America, and I realized that Gooding was really horrible. He lacked O.J.'s famous charm, and instead came across as ineffectual where the documentary portrays O.J. as a strong force in his own defense.

If you've never seen Simpson at all, perhaps the performance would seem fine, but it's an absolutely wretched performance from the point of view of verisimilitude. It's easily the biggest flaw in an otherwise gripping portrayal.

Why the critics didn't notice that I can't say.

My only complaint about Season 2 is that there is to much conjecture about Cunanan's relationship with his some of his victims. We see an entire episode about him traveling with David, conversations they have, David's reluctance to escape...no one but Andrew and David knows what really happened in the apartment or the days following, or what conversations took place. Maybe Cunanan had a gun on him the entire time. Same with Miglin and the discussions about his Space Needle, or Miglin willingly allowing Cunanan to tape him up. Things may have in fact been very different.

American Crime Story is absolutely one of the best anthology series that's ever been made. I was not expecting the series to be so gripping and entertaining, every season and every story told has been fantastic so far. Everyone will have their favorite but there's no denying that they're all good. Personally I've liked them in order from season one being the best and so on. Each season has been nominated for numerous awards, everything from the acting to the writing has been nominated and all have been very deserving. Ryan Murphy has created so many successful shows over the years but American Crime Story still remains his best. I'm looking forward to all the future seasons still to come. If they're anywhere close to as good as these first few have been then they'll definitely be worth the time.

Telling the story of the murder of Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramírez) at the hands of Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), what's especially interesting about this season of American Crime Story is the narrative structure. The opening scene of the first episode sees the murder, and the show then goes backwards, with each episode set earlier than the previous one, an achronological structure that unifies form and content; this isn't about a murder, it's about how Cunanan became a serial killer.

Within this, the show deals with two interrelated issues; 1) the concept that one must work hard to be successful, and 2) the desire to be remembered. Cunanan is obsessed with the second, but unwilling to acknowledge the first, despite his conviction of his own greatness. His attitude is nicely critiqued by Versace himself ("Life isn't about convincing people you can do great things. It's about doing them"), and the last shot masterfully encapsulates much of Cunanan's deepest existential fears. For all that, however, the season is good, but not great. The last two episodes are far and away the strongest, especially Jon Jon Briones's appearance as Modesto, Cunanan's detestable father, but, overall, it isn't a patch on 'The People v. O.J. Simpson'.

This series is riveting, well directed, fast-paced and informative. The casting is marvelous with one little exception: OJ Simpson!! Cuba Gooding is a fantastic actor, but he completely fails to portray OJ Simpsons incredible charm and charisma that actually enabled him to sliver through years of abusive behavior and the cold-blooded double murder. Gooding is reactive and unsophisticated, while the cocksure Simpson is just missing. This is an incredible failure of casting where the remaining characters are spot on and compelling. Why not Dwayne Johnson or someone with the physical charisma and cool? Travolta deserves great kudos for taking this on, but one has to wonder why he allowed the utter miscasting of the major role. At any rate, this is a worthwhile series to watch and it surely is award-rich.