Upcoming Netflix show Black Rabbit takes its time. That isn’t to say nothing happens – in fact, it could have been subtitled A Series of Unfortunate Events – but Zach Baylin and Kate Susman’s show lets those events percolate. Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman – both in convention-defying roles – Black Rabbit is a drama that smells of money, but stinks of the filth of humanity’s dregs. That’s the contradiction that drives everything, much like the two comparison points that shouted most at me throughout its 8 episode run.
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Black Rabbit takes the slow-burn, claustrophobic tension of Uncut Gems, and adds a similar workplace family dynamic to The Bear. Law plays Jake, proprietor of a New York hotspot that could believably be just round the corner from Sandler’s KMH jewelry store, where the team is held together by a family spirit while ghosts of the past and new pressures threaten to rip the whole thing apart. Everyone lives in each other’s pockets – hence The Bear analogy – and when Jake’s brother Vince (a hairy Bateman) turns up with trouble in tow, chaos reigns.
It’s compelling, even if it starts a little slowly, and boasts impressive swagger for something from newer creators. The slight downside comes with the shifting identity of the episodes as Bateman hands over to Laura Linney (who previously worked on Ozark), and then Ben Semanoff (Ozark again), and finally Justin Kurzel for two episode runs. There’s lots of ideas that aren’t entirely cohesive, but the overall is still impressive. It’s also quite frustrating at times. Here’s the lowdown on the show:
Black Rabbit’s Pros
- Jude Law and Jason Bateman are both excellent.
- The building tension is very reminiscent of Uncut Gems, and gets delightfully claustrophobic at times. Provided you like your entertainment with a side of anxiety, of course.
- A strong supporting cast is headlined by newcomer Forrest Weber.
- The soundtrack is legitimately incredible.
Black Rabbit’s Cons
- 8 episodes of an hour run-time is a lot of time to fill, and some of the secondary storylines and characters feel a little like padding. A shorter run could have cut some of the parts that dragged.
- The subplot concerning SA feels oddly shoe-horned in and underserved.
- Jason Bateman feels very slightly miscast when everyone keeps telling you how much of a grimy scumbag he is, and he’s just a more disheveled and hairier version of his usual likeable self.
- Despite being brothers, Jude Law and Bateman have completely different accents.
Black Rabbit No-Spoiler Review
Initially, I worried Law was miscast, given he doesn’t exactly radiate that grimy New York vibe, but that’s actually sort of the poitnt. Black Rabbit is about the lie of appearances, at a certain level, and about the toxic impact the revelation of truth can have. There’s an almost Game of Thrones-like level or betrayal and counter-betrayal, and the real entertainment factor is in how bad things can get as Jake and Vinny lose more control. In that respect, the swing of the pendulum of fortune is also a lot like HBO’s excellent The Penguin. Vinny isn’t quite as much of a caricature as Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb, but his rising and rapidly sinking tides of luck feel very similar.
I’m very aware that I’ve used a lot of parallels to other shows and movies here, but Black Rabbit is also a strong statement in its own right. The world building is clever and nuanced, and we get a picture of an almost otherworldly New York that is also perversely normal at the same time. The supporting cast too is excellent, including Amaka Okafor as stressed out chef Roxie, Troy Kotsur as intimidating kingpin Joe Mancuso, and Chris Coy as his henchman Babbit. Special mention has to go to Forrest Weber as Junior Mancuso, who you’d swear was Wilson Bethel’s wiry twin, and who carries part of the show’s painful examination of legacy that also comes into Vinny’s story as things progress.
You want to know if Black Rabbit is good, really: and my final verdict is that it is, with some caveats. I would say it builds well, so requires a certain amount of patience and faith in the early episodes. The way the show plays with time – book-ending events with the climax of the story before jumping back in time – actually helps that because a conventional timeline might have made it too slow. Netflix have made a good HBO show, which is as close to the highest praise I can offer. It’s a little misguided in some of its decisions, and some parts feel under-nourished, but it’s all done with significant flair.
It’s not particularly easy to watch, by design, and there are definitely points in the story that feel like escalations for the sake of raising the grimness stakes. Having sat on it for a while, the disturbing subplot around a wealthy patron of the restaurant (no spoilers) is an unnecessary addition that seems only to exist for a provocative side note because of how it’s handled. But there’s more here to enjoy than to complain about, and Law and Bateman’s odd couple performances alone are worth watching for.
Our Rating: 3.5 out of 5
All 8 episodes of Black Rabbit will release on September 18 on Netflix.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
