Donnie Wahlberg handles the 'Point'
By: ANN ZIVOTSKY - For the North County Times | ∞
In Spike TV's new eight-part series "The Kill Point," Donnie Wahlberg portrays a cop who barks at his co-workers, negotiates with killers, and can tell when someone has dangled a participle.
"The character for me was a real draw," Wahlberg said during a telephone interview. "He's a cop and I've played cops before, but throughout the eight episodes, we get to see several colors in the character."
Wahlberg co-stars in the series as Horst Cali, a police negotiator who is called in to negotiate with a bank robber (John Leguizamo) when a heist goes wrong and hostages are taken. Wahlberg said he liked the script and the thought of working with Leguizamo.
"I've worked with John Leguizamo before and we did well together, so that was part of it also," Wahlberg said.
His character, Cali, is patient while he negotiates with Mr. Wolf (Leguizamo), but quick to scream at the police and SWAT team members that surround him.
"He has to be so patient, he has to be in control," Wahlberg said. "What I tried to do was use that as part of the character. He needs to have the people around him put up with his abuse because he needs to be patient with the hostage-taker, so that's tied into the English language thing."
The "English language thing" is Cali's peculiar habit of correcting other people's grammar. Wahlberg said the script mentioned the trait, but he worked to emphasize it more.
"There was one mention of it in the first two scripts, and I kind of pushed for me to do more of it. He doesn't use correct grammar all the time, but he's still the grammar police with others; that's what makes it work so well."
Wahlberg, older brother to Mark, has appeared in two dozen films and TV shows since he began acting a decade ago, including "Path to 9/11," "Boomtown," "The Sixth Sense," "Ransom" and as the quiet real-life hero Lt. C. Carwood Lipton in "Band of Brothers." This past season he starred in the CW series "Runaway," which lasted only a few episodes.
"I am always disappointed when things don't work, and I have tremendous respect for (show creator) Dan Star," Wahlberg said. "But I'm not sure that that's (CW network) the place for me ---- I have too many opinions. I don't know if I'm a CW person. And I'm not cute enough."
Wahlberg said he likes playing a range of characters.
"I'm comfortable playing any character as long as I'm prepared and people trust me. With 'Band of Brothers,' I felt trusted and the same with 'Kill Point.' They trusted me and let me go."
With a strong resemblance to "Dog Day Afternoon," Spike TV's "The Kill Point" is bound to become "appointment television" this summer ---- viewers are not going to want to miss any of the eight episodes.
A Pittsburgh bank is taken over by five robbers, led by Mr. Wolf (Leguizamo) in an operation that eventually shows that the men have served together in military operations. Trying to negotiate with the robbers and save the hostages is Capt. Cali (Wahlberg), a veteran hostage negotiator who has successfully negotiated 17 hostage situations before this one. Mudding the waters is Deputy Chief Abrami (Mike McGlone), who is giving orders based on politics and not the best police operations.
In the first hour of the series, the robbery goes bad and Wolf and Cali begin a negotiation process that quickly turns into a business transaction. While the two men try to remain cool about the events taking place around them, their associates become hotheaded and there's little doubt the eight hours of this series are going to heat up quickly.
"The Kill Point" premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday.
A young woman covered in blood is running down a New York City street wearing only a coat. She's in shock, unable to tell police what happened, so viewers learn through flashbacks that she is Ellen, a young attorney recently hired by Hewes & Associates, headed by Patty Hewes. It's the beginning of a new FX series called "Damages" and it just might help viewers forget that they miss "The Sopranos" so much.
Starring Glenn Close in only her second TV series ---- she spent one season on "The Shield" ---- "Damages" is about a high-powered attorney who will do anything to help her clients. The hook is her clients are the victims of powerful corporations, making it appear that Hewes is helping the underdog ---- except helping the underdog ultimately helps Hewes solidify her power.
This first season of "Damages" will focus on a class-action lawsuit that Hewes is bringing against Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) and the allegations that he wiped out his employees' retirement funds. Wooed by Hewes to join the firm, Ellen begins to wonder if she's been hired, so she'll bring in a potentially harmful witness against Frobisher. Even with her suspicions, Ellen is attracted to the power she gains working for Hewes & Associates and believes she can play in the same league as Patty Hewes. By the end of the first episode, it's clear to see Ellen and Patty are competitors and colleagues.
She's played classy and crazy, but few actresses can match Close's ability to play ---- well, it rhymes with witchy. Some will say Close is chewing up the scenery in "Damages," but she hits a perfect level of malevolence that will keep viewers in constant suspicion of her character. And as she did in "Fatal Attraction," Close's character is a threat to pets in "Damages" that makes you hate her even more.
Close benefits from a strong supporting cast, including Australian native Rose Byrne as Ellen and Tate Donovan as one of the Hewes associates. In the first episode of "Damages," it becomes clear that no character is as they first appear, and even when we know the character is heartless, it's a shock to see how heartless they can be. That makes this new series a summer treat.
"Damages" premieres at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The other movie actress moving to a TV series is Holly Hunter in "Saving Grace." The new TNT series is part criminal mystery and part religious drama as Grace Hanadarko, a hard-drinking police detective who is having an affair with her married partner, begins to discuss life with an angel that has descended into her life. This angel chews tobacco and is willing to wrestle Grace to prove God is watching over her.
Set in Oklahoma City, Grace drinks when she wakes up, drinks on the job, and drinks while she drives a black Porsche too fast at night. It's during a late-night race that she runs over a man and believes she's killed him. Asking for God's help, Earl ---- the angel ---- appears and begins to show Grace that there may be more to life than whiskey bottles and late-night visits from her partner.
"Saving Grace" centers most of its storyline on the chaotic Grace, leaving the crime-solving as an afterthought. Viewers may be so turned off by Grace, that they might abandon "Saving Grace" before it really gets going. That would be a mistake because by the second episode, Grace's softer side begins to emerge, although she still questions everything Earl tells her, so it's unlikely this is going to become another "Touched by an Angel."
With Hunter at the helm and Laura San Giacomo as a forensics expert and drinking buddy of Grace, it's worth sticking around to see how "Saving Grace" develops. Its success will depend on whether the show can move toward strong storylines and less on the dysfunctional lead character.
"Saving Grace" premieres at 10 p.m. Monday.
Last week's column reported that UCSD-TV is now available on Time-Warner cable in Carlsbad. In fact, UCSD-TV is available on Channel 18 throughout the Time-Warner system in San Diego.
Highlights for the week include retro advertising men and the newest in country music.
"Mad Men" (10 p.m. today, American Movie Classics) ---- This new series about Manhattan advertising men in the early 1960s has earned a lot of positive buzz. We'll have to see if that's just good advertising for this show about advertising.
"I Bury the Living" (11 p.m. Friday, Turner Classic Movies) ---- Each Friday, TCM features films about creepy zombies and campy space invaders in a series called "TCM Underground." Richard Boone stars in this movie about a cemetery worker who keeps his business going by killing people.
"CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" (9 p.m. Monday, KGTV/Channel 10) ---- A special focusing on an annual four-day festival in Nashville. Performers include Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisely and LeAnn Rimes.
Ann Zivotsky writes about television for the North County Times. Contact her at nctimestv@cox.net.
More Stories
Advertisement
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Today's Stories
Advertisement