Jude Law and Jason Bateman shine in uneven Netflix drama

This week’s picks include self-destructive sibling thriller Black RabbitCharlie Sheen’s wild documentary and can’t-look-away performance by Sheridan Smith in the Brit drama I Fought the Law.

Black Rabbit ★★★ (Netflix)

Kudos to the make-up and lighting teams on this bleak Netflix drama about a self-destructive sibling bond. Across the eight episodes, stars Jude Law and Jason Bateman have a just-present sheen of sweat at crucial moments, which gives off a glint of desperation. It’s the final touch to two first-rate performances that draw more emotional resonance out of this limited series than the storytelling allows. The duo compensate for a work that has the right pieces, but never quite assembles them correctly.

Right from a cold open that gets very hot, creating a pre-ordained turning point you know is inevitable as the plot jumps back a month, Black Rabbit will lean into the wrong elements as it sets up the Cain and Abel pairing of the Friedken brothers: Jake (Law) and Vince (Bateman). The former is the family man proprietor of the titular New York restaurant/VIP bar who has generated just enough buzz that he can potentially cash in, while the latter is a corner-cutter whose busted schemes bring trouble.

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Created by writers Zach Baylin (King Richard) and newcomer Kate Susman, Black Rabbit can’t quite find a gripping take on this pair, even as Jake brings Vince back into his life after a dubious flameout out west. No sooner is Vince working at the Black Rabbit than the loan sharks he skipped out on years prior are at the door, interest calculations in hand and Jake made co-holder of the debt. A good chunk of the narrative is the two scrapping for cash and extra time.

It gets repetitive, but it doesn’t get to the core of their relationship. That’s a shame because some of the other storylines tied to the pair have illuminating possibilities. Vince has an adult daughter he barely knows, Gen (Odessa Young), who becomes collateral in his payment plan, while a situation around the restaurant’s best bartender, Anna (Abbey Lee), speaks to the all too prevalent toxic undertow in the hospitality game. The brothers run a lot, but perhaps more should have caught up with them.

The trade-off for all this is that the final two instalments, directed with sabre-sharp efficiency by Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), have a palpable intensity – even more of that sweat – while spilling details that actually add to the complexity of who Jake and Vince are to each other. It’s compensation, but is it enough? The sly suggestion that Jake hides a manipulative edge and that Vince has a decent streak comes too late. Can a series get a director’s cut?

aka Charlie Sheen ★★½ (Netflix)

To his credit, Charlie Sheen is open about his chaotic life throughout this biographical documentary. Clean for eight years, the 60-year-old grandfather doesn’t punch down and provides commentary on his many misdeeds. Along the way there are wild soundbites: childhood friend Sean Penn suggests science “ponder his biology”, due to Sheen’s ability to ingest and prosper under staggering amounts of illicit substances; while Sheen’s crack cocaine dealer says working for the sitcom star in the 2000s was like “winning the lottery”.

But Sheen isn’t really challenged by director Andrew Renzi in their interviews. Over almost three hours, the documentary favours chronological detail over genuine contemplation. We go from Sheen’s Malibu childhood through Platoonrehab, Spin Cityrehab, Two and a Half Menmeltdown, rehab. Acting is a pay cheque, not an art, and only rarely does the documentary pause to acknowledge the people – often women – who didn’t get another chance. Sheen nods to his privilege, but doesn’t value it.

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Sheen’s father, actor Martin, and older brother Emilio Estevez didn’t participate, but there’s telling analysis from his Two and Half Men co-star Jon Cryer and bleak commentary from several ex-wives. The subject of domestic violence is tiptoed around, with Renzi instead cutting in clips of Sheen’s roles as a flippant meta-commentary before some final revelations about his sex life. That this frustrating documentary comes with an upbeat ending is another unearned privilege.

Highest 2 Lowest ★★★ (Apple TV+)

Spike Lee’s first collaboration with Denzel Washington in almost two decades starts with a lustrous sheen and charisma under pressure, as Washington plays a New York music mogul, David King, whose business plans are derailed by a kidnapping.

The moral twists that follow, particularly between David and his best friend, Paul Christopher (Jeffrey Wright), have a simmer, but as soon as the plot moves onto the city’s streets the energy, in both the performances and Lee’s almost joyous camera moves, goes up a satisfying notch.

I Fought the Law ★★★½ (Stan*)

Anchored by a can’t-look-away performance from Sheridan Smith (The Moorside), this four-part true-crime drama tells the story of Ann Ming (Smith), who along with her husband, Charlie (Daniel York Loh), spent about 30 years campaigning to change Britain’s double jeopardy laws after the man who killed her daughter, Ann, went free because of police incompetence and a hung jury. The chronological structure is clean and almost predictable, but the show pays close attention to what slowly happens to the living as they struggle on behalf of the dead.

The Girlfriend ★★★½ (Amazon Prime Video)

Smartly using twin perspectives, so each episode is divided between the beliefs and schemes of two adversarial protagonists, this London-set psychological thriller mostly balances the fine line between feminist critique and women behaving madly pulp.

Posh gallery owner Laura Sanderson (Robin Wright, also the lead director) and the younger, working-class Cherry Laine (Olivia Cooke) square off over control of Daniel (Laurie Davidson), the former’s son and the latter’s boyfriend. This limited series gets to some crazy places after a warm-up of dinner-table sniping and sexual control, but the implausibility doesn’t lessen the enjoyment.

Dark Winds ★★★★ (Netflix)

This bracing crime drama, set in 1971 and following a Native American police officer, Joe Leaphorn (Zach McClarnon), keeping watch on Navajo Country, debuted in 2022 and has had has several smaller streaming homes. Its Netflix debut hopefully earns it a serious second -hance audience who can appreciate its interweaving of a nefarious thriller’s plot, telling observations on community and culture, and the hard weight of history. McClarnon was a wry supporting player on Disney+’s Reservation Dogsbut his lead performance here is quietly magnetic. Fans of Deadwood and Mare of Easttowntake note.

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