al-416

Got home late last night from work, just to correct the Tivo from missing the last episode of "Thief" due to a May channel lineup change by our cable company.

So glad I did, because now I have all 6 episodes to watch over the summer. I've been a big fan of Andre Braugher since "Homicide" (and Shakespeare in the Park!) and was very excited when this show was announced. Neat that Yancey Arias posted here (no reason to believe it was not him, right?) Yancey is a dashing actor who reminds me (and I'm sure many casting directors) of a younger Benjamin Bratt.

While I admit to have been taken aback by the cursing and violence on a network show (I'm a 30 something dad of two young kids), and by a lot of the darkness that pervades even the "good" characters in "Thief", it's this last element that made watching the series so appealing to watch from start to finish. Unlike more commercial shows, things in "Thief" aren't so black and white.

Which brings me back to the finale. I really appreciated the way each member of the team had to find their own way, and each was not exactly what you might expect. Gabo did not get miraculously cured by the older ex-con who "helped" the team and took in Tammi. (Say it ain't so Yancey!) Malik Yoba's character got nabbed (partially due to his need to be constantly on the phone with his wife after the job). Jack looks like he gets away relatively scott-free, but not with what he really wants, his church-going girl to build a new life together with his share of the take. And Nick, well, as a father of two girls, I understood his choice.

So, while things were wrapped up well enough in the finale, it wasn't the "Let's all go build great new lives in an anonymous Mediterrean or Caribbean town" that you got in Oceans 11, The Bourne Identity, or might in other TV dramas. I wonder, even if the demand as there, how they'd build another season out of the loose ends of the finale. Even if they don't, the six episodes of "Thief" stand as great storytelling and greater TV.

I liked this film a lot, as it was a perfect introduction to who Bernie Worrell is and what he did/ does. The editing is excellent, with the sound bed providing a nice continuity through disparate interview clips with the likes of David Byrne, Mos Def, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, etc.

I only really have one comment, and it's that it would have been nice to have had a little more detail about Bernie's life after Parliament. What happened to him...why is he not in the pantheon along with Bootsy and George Clinton (at least among the great unwashed like myself).

If you like music, try to see this film as part of a festival or at a screening. You'll be richer for it.