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A Man in Full gains from a strong ensemble that excels in their various roles, each adding to the show's greater story. Jeff Daniels keeps proving his ability for serious drama, although his character is perhaps among the least intriguing in the series. While Croker feels like a caricature of a wealthy Southern business magnate, the people that orbit Croker have enormous struggles and aspirations they fight to conquer. Still, this seems deliberate since Croker in the narrative finds meaning and direction from the supporting actors.
The narrative and its several strands come together in a way that results in a quite fulfilling finish.
A Man in Full packs a punch despite the narrative flitting between numerous character points of view, and the story fast developing across six episodes. David E. Kelley, also behind shows including Boston Legal, Chicago Hope, and Ally McBeal, developed and wrote the series. Leading Newsroom star Jeff Daniels, who plays a former football legend currently a prosperous businessman, has a gifted ensemble in the series. Another inspiration for the narrative comes from a 1998 Tom Wolfe novel with the same name.
With Charlie Croker (Daniels) firmly positioned at the middle of it all, A Man in Full chronicles events spanning ten days. While Croker's company is about to fail and a phony friend seeks to profit from his collapse, an employee is caught up in a historic legal case and the mayor of the city asks Croker for his support to strengthen his re-election campaign. Croker might go bankrupt. The narrative threads these stories together, and via them investigates multiple aspects to a man who seems on the surface to be amazing but really one-dimensional.
Though the show does gather to create something interesting and engaging, it does not always start off that way. Though it takes at least the first two episodes to set the groundwork, the opening episode presents various components to attempt and grab our interest. Arranging the elements in their proper places takes a lot of screentime in a limited series spanning six episodes.
Although the show does come together to create something interesting and suspenseful, it does not always begin that way.
Kelley has a lot of expertise creating Legal Drama shows and is a former attorney as well. Scenes when courtroom drama and legal conflicts take front stage really highlight this experience. Though it serves as a side narrative to A Man in Full as a whole, the legal drama is enough interesting to create a series on alone.
That is not to suggest, however, that the other narratives are poor or underwhelming; rather, they pale in relation to the drama and performances that transpire in the court systems. Still, the narrative and its several strands come together to provide a somewhat fulfilling ending. Although Daniels might be the center of the program, all the other components come together to deepen the narrative and change Croker from a nasty and extravagant socialite into a multifarious guy, seen in whole.
Jeff Daniels, Tom Pelphrey, Diane Lane, and Lucy Liu feature in Netflix original series A Man in Full. Based on the book of the same name by Tom Wolfe, which centers on Atlanta real estate magnate Charelie Croker, the limited-series is Charlie is bankrupt and has to guard his empire from others trying to profit from his bad luck.
Netflix now lets you stream A Man in Full.