The Newsroom - Pilot Review

The Newsroom, or Sorkin's idea of one?

Despite my political disagreements with his outlook, Aaron Sorkin is arguably one of my favorite screenwriters. He's got a real knack for taking potentially mundane or dull subject matter and turning it into compelling, even exciting, drama. For a frame of reference to this, see his scripts for Moneyball or The Social Network. So, despite never viewing his previous TV projects (which was before my time), Sports Night or The West Wing, I was a. t least intrigued at the prospect of his first cable series, HBO's The Newsroom. So, I sat down last night to watch the series premiere "We Just Decided To", with my opinions potentially colored by some negative press I read about the show. Many decried the show for being inaccurate in regards to the inner workings of the titular setting, or for being rather bombastic in its liberal political approach, or even for the characters being simply unlikable people. After viewing the pilot, I feel that these criticisms are, at least for the moment, mostly unfounded. Based on "We Just Decided To", I found The Newsroom to be a flawed, slightly politically slanted, but very well-written, extremely well-acted, and overall, a quite entertaining 75 minutes of television (Though I presume that every subsequent ep will be back down to HBO's usual 50-60). The show quickly starts off with a bang, opening with news anchor Will McAvoy being pushed into an almost Howard Beale-esque rant about how America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. It's a superbly written and executed opening, directed in an almost disorienting fashion by Superbad helmer Greg Mottola, making us feel the great pressure by McAvoy to both suppress his opinions and speak his mind at the same time. And with this opening comes the resurrection of the acting career of Jeff Daniels, who delivers a sardonic, angry, and slam-bang performance, making McAvoy instantly believable as a restrained and frustrated news anchor. Yeah, the representation of the newsroom itself may be a bit inaccurate (I'm no expert, though), but at least it's got a stellar cast in its stable. Emily Mortimer brings an unexpected confidence to the table as McAvoy's new exec producer Mackenzie MacHale, with an excellently hostile dynamic quickly established between her and Daniels, only bolstered by Sorkin's per-usual excellent dialogue. Great supporting turns come from John Gallagher Jr. (as the mysteriously well-informed producer Jim Harper), Alison Pill as Maggie Jordan (the meek but efficient intern-turned-assistant-turned-associate producer), Thomas Sadoski as Don Keefer, Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel as blog writer Neal Sampat, and Sam Waterston as ACN president Charlie Skinner. Thomas Newman's music is also very Aaron Sorkin, very reminiscent of Trent Reznor's score for The Social Network, as well as Mychael Danna's score for Moneyball. The Newsroom has quirks and political leanings that may begin to overwhelm my enjoyment in the coming weeks, but as of right now, it's a good solid watch with an excellent lead performance from Jeff Daniels, and looks to be another win for Sorkin.

"We Just Decided To" gets an 8 out of 10.