Please don't spend money on this.

Don't Believe the Hype

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Found this after looking for Eric Schweig vehicles and really wanted to like it. Currently watching Season One Episode Seven.The 'shaky cam' is distracting and in no way contributes artistically.The gratuitous vulgarity feels like lazy writing, which is confirmed by dialogue that is often more stilted than insightful.A lot of the acting is either wooden or heavy-handed.The actors portraying villains seem to have studied at the "Snidely Whiplash" school of drama - if they had mustachios they would be twisting them.There is little subtlety or nuance in the dialogue or acting or plot development.A rape prosecution relies on a non-witness instead of DNA evidence? Vote out the current chief in favor of the one the community knows is corrupt who stole evidence of his corruption and assaulted a council member in the process? Maybe it's me. Maybe people really do interact as portrayed in this series. Maybe people are as illogical as presented here (heck, there are millions still supporting Trump). If so, the situation is even worse than I understood it to be.The issues are compelling and real and I think deserve better handling than I've seen so far. Hope the series improves.

You know how some shows grab you in the first 5 minutes? This wasn't one of them. Part of the issue was not really knowing what to expect... the intro feels almost like a horror movie with a spooky voice singing "Ten Little Indians," but then the first few scenes felt more like a painstaking historical drama. I was also consciously annoyed by the "ambient music" that is quite frequently about four levels too loud, making parts feel inappropriately tense or more like a TV commercial. However, the plot does eventually thicken, and though it can be quite clichéd in some ways, I found myself bonding to the characters nonetheless. The portrayal of addiction a bit heavy-handed, but empathetic. Scenes of abuse are realistic enough that I found myself researching what the prevalence of violence on reservations supposedly is. I honestly don't know if this would be the first thing I'd recommend, especially when there are so many others that are absolutely gripping, but it has enough substance that I find myself wanting to see it through.

Great story, well acted, well written. Believable sets and locations. Enough intrigue and sub-stories to keep things interesting. Politics, corruption, and the struggle of the underdog. All good stuff. Then it falls apart because of the camera work. Every single scene shot with shaky hand-held camera and jerky zoom. The end result is a production that looks like it was professionally cast, written and produced, then turned over to a high school class with a cheap camcorder to film. Oh, the shots are clear enough...once your eyes adjust to the constant jerking around. There is a place for hand-held shots. A few of them, scattered here and there, can be a great thing. But for the entire production? Please. Invest in a tripod and a trolley.

I just wanna say that there are many fine looking gorgeous ladies in this series! Carmen Moore, Andrea Menard and Roseanne Supernault are all hot! Hehehehehehehehehe.(; Of course, the series has a great plot, storyline and cast of characters.But I like it how Andy's father tries to get it through his son's thick head that Ottawa is to blame for all of Native people's social problems. Andy's father used his gangrene foot as a great example of the poor health care that Native people receive by saying that if Ottawa hadn't have caused so many social problems, that his foot would have been fine. And he is right. Andy is so out of sync with his culture that he has completely forgotten about the ways of his ancestors! That is why he is such a corrupt Chief. Leona on the other hand was a great Chief who did her best to look after her community until Andy got re-elected and thus continuing the problems at Blackstone.Anyways .... this is why I give this one a 9.