Thomas Jane as Ray. (HBO photo)
HBO’s new series “Hung” premiered Sunday night, and anyone tuning in expecting a sex-filled raunch-fest would have been disappointed. Considering the show’s not-so-subtle title and the fact that it’s on premium cable, it’s a lot tamer than you’d think. And that’s probably a good thing.
“Hung” could have very easily taken the path of “Californication,” with pseudo-misogynistic storylines and lots of gratuitous sex. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it’s been done. Instead, “Hung” is more of a character study of a guy in full-on midlife crisis mode. (Yeah, that’s been done to death too, but not quite like this.)
Thomas Jane plays Ray, a down-on-his luck, disillusioned high school teacher who has, well, nothing. He peaked in high school, the popular jock with pro baseball aspirations who married a beauty queen. But it’s been downhill since. His job sucks, his house burned down, his wife left him and he lost custody of his kids. He only has one enormous, um, “asset” left. So what’s a guy to do? Become a man-whore, of course.
Yeah, it’s a vaguely ridiculous, pathetic and distasteful career path, but Ray can live with that. And really, it’s better than becoming a meth kingpin like the similarly droopy-dog Walt on “Breaking Bad” or a pot dealer like Nancy on “Weeds.”
The series is set in Detroit, a city that kinda mirrors Ray’s life — once great and vibrant with endless opportunity, now a battered, shattered shell of its old self. For Ray and Detroit, the American Dream just ain’t what it used to be.
Jane Adams steals scenes as an oddball poet who realizes that becoming Ray’s pimp is a better money-making direction that baking “lyric cakes” (think fortune cookies, but with poetry baked into cakes. Yeah, it’s as awful an idea as it sounds). She adds a nice dose of quirkiness, and her sweetness nicely counteracts Anne Heche as Ray’s bitter, harpy ex-wife.
The pilot was directed by Alexander Payne, who also did “Sideways” and “Election.” He carries that theme of downtrodden middle-aged men doing desperate, stupid things, and does it with a wry, melancholy sense of humor. I hope that tone carries over to future episodes. “Hung” walks a fine line between empathy and titillation. Ray’s a doofus, not particularly smart or talented, but he’s a sympathetic character. And his predicament is interesting enough to keep me watching. The quiet desperation of Ray scuffling through life — especially while leading a secret double life — is potentially more interesting that his escapades as a gigolo. I hope the show keeps on the high road and doesn’t drop to the shallow morass that “Entourage” fell into.
It’s not quite HBO’s next great series, but it could become its next good one.
