But that’s just the perception of How to, or at least it was mine based on a few minutes of trailers I watched on HBO ON DEMAND. I have to admit that I wasn’t excited for this show, and while many of my fears were allayed by a respectably strong introduction I still have my doubts about this show.
Our hero’s name is Ben (Bryan Greenberg), who lives in an average sized NYC apartment (aka tiny) and works at Barneys. His job at Barney’s represents his concession to “the man,” which allows him the free time to engage in wild schemes, attend NYC functions and pay his rent. His real passion seems to be bubbling under the surface, and surfaces a few times in the episode, most notably when he sees some denim that sparks his interest.
Greenberg was the lead in the aborted October Road from 2007 and has popped up recently in Bride Wars and The Good Guy. This leading role represents a lot of heavy lifting for Greenberg, who by all accounts has the looks of the front man, but carries a weight of apathy that drags down his appeal. It feels like he’s trying to embody Adrian Grenier’s version of Vince, which he portrays effortlessly as an apathetic movie star with few goals and fewer ideas in his head, but Ben is supposed to be more complicated than that. The reason he can’t play the character like Vince is for the simple fact that Grenier is part of an ensemble cast, whereas Greenberg seems destined to play the lead.
So far I’d say I’m unimpressed in his leading man skills. I only found him charming once, when he’s cavorting with a cop that’s busting him and his friend Cam (Victor Rasuk) for selling leather jackets on the street without a vender’s license.
Speaking of Cam, he is THE TURTLE of the group (I’m referring to the Entourage character). He’s a schemer, who hasn’t quite reached his full potential. He can’t fully articulate his dreams or his plan to make his dreams happen, and the only thing he’s sure of is that he doesn’t want to work for the man. That means he ends up engaging in shady deals with his cousin Rene, played in a very awkward and stereotypical manner by Luis Guzman (I’m holding out hope that this great actor will breathe some life into this character).
One of these schemes entails trying to swindle David (Eddie Kaye Thomas), with the purchase of some art that he doesn’t really want. They end up getting money from him, though, because he wants them to make nice for him with a bouncer. How convenient.
Thomas is another caricature that rubbed me the wrong way. Not because his character is a jerk, but because Thomas knows the character is a jerk and went out of his way to play the character that way. The trick is that people like that don’t know they’re jerks, and that’s why his performance falls flat.
This is exactly why James Ransone’s unaccredited role in the pilot falls flat on its face. He’s supposed to be some hipster artist that is a contradiction, but his acting and the writing are so over the top that this subtle and obvious point ends up just smacking you in the face.
In its essence How to’s biggest flaw is its inability to play anything cool. Much like Entourage everything is over the top, and that’s not how this show should be presented. I understand that NYC is a big venue and the desire to play it like Sex & the City is powerful, but they need to overcome this urge. Especially because it would make the occasional vintage NYC scene people imagine even more potent.
Beyond the scenery is the bigger problem with the storytelling, which for now seems to lack any real depth. If it wants to go that way, ok, but it shouldn’t masquerade as something it’s not. It shouldn’t try to be grounded in some hard luck reality, when it’s really just bursting at the seams to let the main characters operate wildly beyond their means.
All that and I haven’t even gotten to the most annoying plot point, which is the fact that Ben is hung up on his ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Lake Bell). Ended up fast-forwarding through their two very awkward encounters, as I was able to pick up the gist of things by their expressions and the help of other characters. She dumped him and he’s not over it. He could do better, since she’s not that hot and doesn’t seem that special.
Especially when she’s compared to Shannyn Sossamon, who plays Gingy Wu. Gingy apparently has money, but wants to make her name on her own, which gives her something in common with Cam. I can’t tell if she has a crush on Ben, but they definitely had chemistry together and the fact she tried to set him up doesn’t mean she’s not into him.
I don’t think Gingy represents thefourth member of the crew (with David representing the third character, also known as Drama from Entourage). It appears that this might just end up being a trio, although Kid Cuddi (whoever that is) does have his name in the opening credits and could round out the group. His character pops up briefly in the pilot, but he didn’t make a much of an impression.
So I’ve said a lot of not so great things about this show, yet I’m still encouraged. I don’t know why I walked away with so many reservation and still have so much hope for this show. It’s not that cool. It’s not that edgy. It’s not well acted. It seems over processed. It feels phony in its writing. I’m still optimistic.
I think my hope stems from the fact that the show appears to be settled on overarching stories like Entourage used to embrace, where each episode pushes the ball farther up the hill towards some goal. This season that goal appears to be the creating and selling of some jeans. I assumed that in every episode they’ll have to overcome some challenge in reaching this goal, but eventually their ducks will line up and whatever happens when ducks line happen will happen for them.
Wow, I write that with such bitterness, yet remain invested in this show. I’d say give this show a trial run of three episodes. If it hasn’t piqued your interest by then it probably never will and that’s not too many episodes to feel too invested. Good luck.
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