Lights Out is worth turning on – CliqueClack Preview

Over the holidays I renewed my interest in boxing by going to the theater to catch a showing of The Fighter. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the sport of boxing. To my delight, I was able to keep the love alive by viewing the first five episodes of Lights Out, a new FX original premiering Tuesday, January 11^th at 10 PM Eastern.

Holt McCallany stars as Patrick “Lights” Leary, a onetime boxing World Heavyweight Champion of the World who decided to retire after his win, rather than continue on to defend his title. He went out on top. His brother, Johnny (Pablo Schreiber of The Wire), manages his business affairs, and together with their father, Pops (the indelible Stacy Keach), they own a gym and strive to find a successor in for title fight. It seems to be the prevailing theory in the entertainment world that every (successful) retired boxer either runs a gym after retirement or becomes a ring announcer. Unless you’re Rocky Balboa, who eventually became a restaurateur; but, I digress.

The plot surrounds Leary’s life after boxing, and his struggle to maintain a thriving, healthy family life with his wife, Theresa, and two daughters, while out of the limelight. By the end of the fifth episode, we have not learned a lot about Leary’s past in the ring, but that doesn’t mean I am not curious. The purse for the big fight must have been very steep, as the Learys live in a grand mansion, send their kids to the best schools and live a relatively luxurious life. The number I heard was $13 million, but unless he never won a decent purse before the big fight, he may have retired with more in the bank.

Unfortunately for Leary, the lights really are out. In spite of the large championship payload, monetary concerns are Leary’s main challenge. His brother is a wildcard, keeping Leary on his toes even out of the ring, with a string of financial misdeeds and sexcapades. Once he leads them to economic misfortune, the dire circumstances drive all actions moving forward. Johnny wins the coveted “least desirable character” nomination.

Holt McCallany has a long resume, but I best remember him from his role in CSI: Miami where he played a love interest to Calleigh Duquesne. He has an imposing and yet kind presence, making the role of “Lights” Leary both formidable and favored. The writers and Holt undertake the flawed character with just the right amount of grit and emotion.

Choosing Catherine McCormack to play Theresa Leary was a smart move. She has a subtle beauty but a pinched look about her, which assists in making her borderline smack-worthy. She is like a slightly soured Paulina Porizkova. Her nomination is for “most annoying character” because of her delusional expectation that $13 million would sustain their lifestyle for any period of time, and the contempt she appears to feel about any lingering desires Leary has to get back into the ring.

The secrets among the cast of characters makes for a very volatile dynamic. There is an underlying tension in Leary as their struggles continue and he fights against the dangling carrot of easy money to get back into the ring. I easily sat through five episodes without any mind of the time, and even the most troublesome developments held my interest. The draw of Lights Out is most definitely Holt McCallany; he portrays Patrick “Lights” Leary with the heart of a champion even when the character is at his worst. It’s McCallany’s performance and Leary’s fierce determination to succeed that make Lights Out worth turning on.

Clacked by Carissa Pavlica
on Jan 06, 2011 @ 15:01 EST5EDT