Hap and Leonard: Series Premiere Review

By Matt Fowler

Rolling into primetime like a Texas tumbleweed – on Wednesday, March 2nd – is SundanceTV’s new six-episode series Hap and Leonard – based on the dime novel characters created by author Joe R. Lansdale. James Purefoy and Michael K. Willaims top-line this project as the two long-time/unlikely best friends who breezily bounce around from low-paying manual labor to high-paying score. Getting into trouble, here and there, with local crime schemes and money-grab plots. All the while, their loyalty to one another being the centerpiece of the story.

Purefoy (whose Texas accent isn’t great but also isn’t as bad as bad as the drawl he did for a few episodes on The Following) stars as Hap – a downtrodden ex-con with baggage in the form of devious ex-wife Trudy (Christina Hendricks). Williams’ Leonard is a short-tempered, gay ‘Nam vet who may or may not be attracted to, or in love with, Hap. Either way, it’s teased a touch, but their friendship, which others have a hard time understanding (it’s the 80s, in dirt rural Texas), reaches beyond anything easily explainable. And it’s a fun pairing, having these two actors share the screen.

After getting fired from their job picking roses, Hap decides to succumb to the wiles of his Trudy, who stops by for a visit (aka some sexin’) and to extend an offer to Hap that could be worth $200 grand. And from there things pick up. Well, mostly. This pilot doesn’t quite get off the ground. It’s almost a bit too meandering for its own good. Of course, as a whole, Hap and Leonard could be very rewarding, but this introductory chapter lacks teeth. For a Southern pulp-y crime tale, that is.

In fact, there’s almost too much time spent on Hap and Leonard as characters when, honestly, they’re somewhat flimsy. By design. They’re hardened noir figures and their dialogue doesn’t exactly reach into deep depths. And sticking with that, a lot of the page-to-screen chatter doesn’t work well. I mean, this can happen. Notably, with a lot of Stephen King adaptations, in fact. When you read the dialogue in the book, it works. When you hear it out loud, even coming from great actors, it feels off.

So Hap and Leonard get drawn into a secret plan to uncover missing cool million. Down at the bottom of a river thanks to a robbery escape gone wrong. And this brings in Howard (Bill Sage), Trudy’s second ex and an anti-war “hippie,” a scarred grunt named Paco (Neil Sandilands), and a schlub named Chubs (Jeff Pope). All of them part of the scheme to reclaim the dough. A scheme that will play out over the course of the show. This episode just sets it all up so – you know – you’ll get no resolution here. Not yet.

There’s such a slow, somber tone to most of the episode that when the first bit of actual, gripping danger happens, it’s very jarring. So much so that it feels like it’s from another story. It comes right at the end, with the introduction of characters played by Jimmi Simpson and Pollyanna McIntosh and it’s nuts. It’s also a weird, stark reminder that the show takes place in the ’80s. I mean, we know it is. And there are a few references throughout the episode that remind you of the era, but most of the locales have such a “place that time forgot” vibe that, honestly, it could all be taking place now.