Tag: The Good Wife

The Good Fight is GOOD

To say I was devastated when The Good Wife ended is an understatement. I mean, rare are shows that boast strong characters, incredible dialogue, and such clever twists! And the female power – don’t even get me started! Then there was talk about a spin-off. The Good Fight they called it. No Juliana Margulies this time. Pfft, I thought. No Juliana? Really? How do you expect to spin that one off? Then, I watched it. Now, I AM HOOKED. True, The Good Fight has big shoes to fill (they don’t make them like Juliana), but it has already a strong cast of actors in Christine Baranski, Cush Jumbo (Gotta love her name!) and Rose Leslie from where I last saw her on The Game of Thrones. The creators of this show did well to go after such a string of strong female leads. However, they did not completely alienate the other half of our species, introducing easily likeable and strong characters in Delroy Lindo, Justin Bartha and a comeback from The Good Wife by our very own Canadian, Matthew Perry. A lot of other quirky characters reappear from the mother show, minus of course the Florrick family and my beloved Eli Gold.

I like that this show goes deep into the justice system often acting as a crash course in justice terminology – I mean, they get real in there with concepts like “Fair Use” and “Puffery”. I may not aspire to be a lawyer, but I enjoy that the creators Robert and Michelle King have faith in their audience to count us as smart enough to understand what is happening. The quick pace of this show, coupled with witty dialogue and politically-current material (and man do they get bold with their politics!) really make it a welcome relief in this world of almost-garbage TV. Sincerely, the pilot with [SPOILER ALERT] Baranski’s character sitting in front of a television set disgusted at the swearing in of the current president, is a strong enough statement about the direction of this show.

If you’re in Canada, The Good Fight airs on the W Network on Sundays. For all you The Good Wife fans, you have to see this. It is no Juliana Margulies, but it is GOOD.

©booksnnooks.org All Rights Reserved

A Memoir by Alan Cumming

I have been a fan of Scotsman, Alan Cumming since the first time I saw him on The Good Wife. His character, Eli Gold, is endearing and a hoot, a combination that Cumming exudes (as I found out) in reality. When I chanced upon his memoir, Not My Father’s Son, I was curious to learn another dimension of him from the one the T.V. world provided. With a flair for the dramatic, perhaps equal parts natural and spurred on by his background in theatre (he has played some fascinating roles!), Cumming narrates some very tense moments in his life.

There were more things I liked about this book than I thought I would. For one, Cumming is an undeniable virtuoso at the way he tweaks language to convey different thoughts. His writing style is more poetry than one might expect, and I was drawn to the way he describes mundane moments and everyday feelings with such creative aplomb. My lexicon was stretched reading words and sentences spun at different geometric angles to think about life patterns in a myriad of ways. Through his writing style, Cumming delivers not just his attraction to the dramatic, but other bits of his personality that you are likely to fall in love with. He is a challenger of the conventional at every turn, and not just with his words, but more so with the minutiae of his actions.

Another reason I liked this book was because Cumming is very candid in his evaluations of his life. I wanted to hug the man as I read his words! Cumming is never bitter, never malicious in his retelling of the pain he suffered as a child. He is loving, kind, and even understanding of his father’s inflicted pain on him, all the while being brave and unaccepting of future attempts to be hurt.

Perhaps the only mild criticism I have of this book is that it read more as an introspection and inspection, than with much attention to its having a readership. At times I found Cumming to be ruminating in things when I willed him to move on. At these moments, I felt a bit ‘stuck’ in my reading and agitated at not being allowed to make inferences of my own. However, I realize that this is a memoir and therefore an expression of Cumming’s rather painful journey to achieving healing, and an audience was not a priority in its making. As a writer myself (a novice one at that), I recognize this need to write for expression and healing. In the same vein, Cumming chose to share his writing on a larger scale to needle out the stigma around suffering the shame and life-destroying effects of domestic violence, as he says “Writing this book and knowing it will be discussed around the world is in some way insurance for me that my story will never be thought of as commonplace, never acceptable…”. And yes, I know that in seeing the other side of the coin, my criticism invalidates itself.

This book provides poignant insights into issues of domestic violence, child abuse, mental health and the effects of war on a person’s psyche. Cumming’s larger-than-life personality is magnetic, and his sentences are poised to capture your every sense.

This book review also (like Shania’s autobiography) does not get a rating, because it is not writing for me to chalk up to a score. If you are a fan of Alan Cumming though, I reckon you’re already looking for a way to get your hands on this book. It will make you love the man even more.

©booksnnooks.org All Rights Reserved