Former “Misplaced” star Matthew Fox returns to TV for the primary time within the 12 years within the new Peacock collection “Final Gentle” — which could attraction to Fox followers however in any other case underwhelms.
Now streaming, the action-thriller (which Fox additionally produces) is a dystopian story set in a world the place a disruption to the petroleum provide chain sparks a worldwide disaster.
Fox, 56, stars as Andy Yeats, an American chemist who lives in London together with his spouse Elena (Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”), their 8- year-old son Sam (Taylor Fay) — who’s shedding his imaginative and prescient — and college-aged local weather activist daughter Laura (Alyth Ross), who’s scornful of her dad’s work (because it entails the fossil gas business).
When the household is about to go to Paris for Sam’s experimental eye surgical procedure, Andy’s work calls him away him to cope with an oil-related emergency in Luzrah (a fictional place within the Center East). This angers Elena — who thinks he’s prioritizing work over household — and Laura (due to her ideas).
As energy grids shut down throughout Europe and social unrest breaks out, the household scatters to the wind, with Andy in Luzrah, his spouse and son in France and his daughter nonetheless in England. Andy is torn, attempting to reunite together with his household and get to Paris in time to assist them for Sam’s surgical procedure, whereas additionally coping with more and more chaotic occasions at work — together with gunmen chasing him down.
Issues develop into much more sophisticated when Andy, who has motive to consider that the world’s oil provide could possibly be contaminated for sinister man-made causes, additionally has British Intelligence on his tail.
“Final Gentle” is predicated on a novel by Alex Scarrow and tailored by Patrick Massett (“Friday Evening Lights”) and John Zinman (“The Blacklist”). It’s clearly obtained loads of grand concepts, however they’re introduced in a paint-by-numbers style. In case you’ve seen any catastrophe film together with “The Day after Tomorrow” or “San Andreas,” there’s nothing that makes “Final Gentle” stand out from the well-trodden style.
Not solely is that this Fox’s first collection since 2010, but it surely’s additionally his first venture in seven years, for the reason that 2015 film “Bone Tomahawk.” Brendan Fraser, one other actor who’s at the moment on the comeback path, picked an edgy and controversial car together with his starring position in “The Whale.” Fox does the alternative on this aggressively generic collection. Characters don’t actually get to be extra colourful than fundamental archetypes: the apprehensive frazzled mother who’s on the finish of her rope, the reluctant hero and weary household man, the outspoken daughter.
At a decent 5 episodes, “Final Gentle” isn’t too tedious, a minimum of, and the plot strikes shortly. And it might scratch the itch in the event you’re within the temper for a thriller with an environmental bent (or simply really feel some “Misplaced” nostalgia and need to watch Matthew Fox look apprehensive).
However apart from that, “Final Gentle” is forgettable. It’s not offensively unhealthy, but it surely additionally doesn’t have sufficient distinctive characters or memorable story turns to really feel like a must-watch.
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