Latest news with #DennisLehane
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Smoke's Taron Egerton, Jurnee Smollett and Dennis Lehane on the new Apple TV+ series
American author and screenwriter Dennis Lehane has a healthy respect for the power of fire. He learned that from surviving a house fire in Boston, Massachusetts, in his thirties. Advertisement Lehane was living on the top floor of a block of flats when a propane tank on the roof exploded and started a blaze. The landlord was replacing the building's smoke detectors at the time, so they were not working. Lehane is lucky to be alive and he credits, in part, the flames. 'If you're trapped in fire – if you wake up and the building you're in is on fire – it's up to the fire at that point. It's really up to the whims of the fire, whatever's going to happen to you. And I find that lack of control fascinating.' Lehane, whose literary canon includes the novels-turned-film-hits Gone, Baby, Gone and Mystic River, has turned to fire for his latest project – Apple TV+'s new nine-episode crime drama Smoke. It is based on the true story of a former arson investigator who was convicted in 1998 of serial arson. He was captured in part after he wrote a novel about a firefighter who was a serial arsonist. The case – chronicled in the 2021 podcast Firebug – sparked something in Lehane.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Smoke review – no TV show has ever been worth sticking with more
I never want to include spoilers, but sometimes they cannot be avoided. So, because I want you to stick with the new miniseries by Dennis Lehane, starring Taron Egerton (the pair reuniting after their great success with 2022's Black Bird), and enjoy the myriad benefits it will reap, I urge you to ignore any misgivings you have about the first two episodes of Smoke. Most of them will fall away. The tonal inconsistencies, the apparent self-indulgence of Lehane with his protagonist's hobby, the dabs of bad characterisation – just keep the faith. If you can't, then Google the true crime podcast on which Smoke is based and work out what must be happening from there. I'm not giving you the title because you'll be ruining a lot of fun for yourself. It is not as though sticking with it will be too much of a hardship, even if you do have loads of questions. At its inception, Smoke is at the very least a solid police procedural. Egerton plays Dave Gudsen, a former firefighter who became an arson investigator after a traumatic callout put an end to his original career. When two serial arsonists start setting fires all over his patch and his searches for them stall, a detective from the local police department, Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett), is brought in to help. She is in effect being punished for ending an affair with her captain (Rafe Spall) and is eager to catch the bad guys and restore her standing. Further complications to her private life include a mother in jail for an act first suggested by Calderon's flashbacks to a terrifying experience in her childhood, then confirmed by her attendance at her mother's parole hearing, in the face of deep hostility from her siblings. We meet one of the main suspects long before she and Gudsen do. Freddy Fasano (a mesmerising performance by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, which should see him clean up at awards time as thoroughly as Paul Walter Hauser did after Black Bird) is a cowed fry cook at a fast food outlet. Among other things, Lehane and Mwine make him a study in dreadful loneliness, whose ramifications spread like the fires set around the neighbourhood. One of the arsonists uses the 'divide and conquer' method – setting alight crisp aisles (So fatty! So flammable!) in supermarkets before starting bigger fires elsewhere so the emergency services are stretched thin. It suggests someone with a working knowledge of the department's resources, so Gudsen and Calderon begin the long task of matching firefighters' absence records with the days previous fires occurred and homing in on the possible perpetrator. Smoke becomes a cat and mouse game, with the opposing sides circling each other in ways that become increasingly extreme, but never quite tip over into preposterous. It is hugely entertaining, though it is a shame that the main story slightly swamps Freddy's and gives Mwine less to do as time goes on. But Egerton serves up an increasingly layered, clever performance as Gudsen, hitting every ball Lehane and the true story on which Smoke is based throw at him out of the park. It will certainly set him up for further and deserved success. Let's hope it does the same for Mwine. Hang in there, and enjoy. Smoke is on Apple TV+ now.
Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Smoke review: Like a Mahesh Bhatt thriller with an Apple-level budget and an MX Player vibe
After knocking it out of the park with the excellent prison drama Black Bird a couple of years ago, writer Dennis Lehane and star Taron Egerton have reunited on the new Apple mini-series Smoke. The nine-episode thriller follows a mismatched pair of investigators tasked with tracking down a couple of arsonists. Gudsen, the character played by Egerton, is an expert of some kind. He lives and breathes fire. His new partner Calderon, played by Jurnee Smollett, is a detective with a horrific past. In a contrived piece of writing that even Mahesh Bhatt would have drawn the line at, it is revealed that Calderon's mother tried to set their house ablaze when she was a child. It's like Dexter, with an Apple-level budget but the soul of an MX Player original. Rohan Naahar is an assistant editor at Indian Express online. He covers pop-culture across formats and mediums. He is a 'Rotten Tomatoes-approved' critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild of India. He previously worked with the Hindustan Times, where he wrote hundreds of film and television reviews, produced videos, and interviewed the biggest names in Indian and international cinema. At the Express, he writes a column titled Post Credits Scene, and has hosted a podcast called Movie Police. You can find him on X at @RohanNaahar, and write to him at He is also on LinkedIn and Instagram. ... Read More
Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
John Leguizamo And Anna Chlumsky On ‘Smoke' And Her Hard No To ‘My Girl 3'
(Left to right) John Leguizamo and Anna Chlumsky in 'Smoke.' Although John Leguizamo and Anna Chlumsky's characters don't appear until halfway through Smoke's nine-episode run, they wouldn't have passed on the chance to star in the crime drama series for anything. "I would have taken the whole series if they'd written my character into the whole thing," the Veep actress confirms. "You want to be a part of something that's excellently written. We all dream of that when we sign up for a job, and this was presented to me. I read for it, and I was desperate for it because I loved it. Dennis Lehane is the voice we need right now." Created and written by Lehane, the slow-burn Apple TV+ show stars Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett as an arson investigator and a detective, respectively, who are working together to stop two serial arsonists in the Pacific Northwest. Chulmsky and Leguizamo play pivotal roles, one a stickler for details and the other a disgraced officer, who both join the investigation. Based on a true story and a hit podcast, Smoke premieres the first two episodes on Friday, June 27, 2025, followed by one episode weekly every Friday through Friday, August 15, 2025. Fiery Dialogue Made 'Smoke' A Dream Project Leguizamo's character, Ezra Esposito, first appears on screen uttering a blistering diatribe that he considers a career high point. "All the dialogue that Dennis wrote for me was top-notch," he explains. "It might be some of the best dialogue I've ever said or spoken in a series, movie, or animated movie, for that matter. The way Dennis writes is incredible. I felt incredibly fortunate to be asked to be part of this series because of the writing. It was exceptional. He's the preeminent true crime novelist in the world right now." "It was a gift. It was such a pleasure to work with Anna. She is unbelievable. She's such a fire with intellect that it brings the whole level of the quality of the work up." The spark between the pair raises the question of why they have never been paired together on screen before. The effortless banter and natural chemistry are lightning in a bottle. "I love hearing that. I like it when I like it when we can have a little schadenfreude for casting agents," she says with a smile. "You are right that we've not had the chance to work together before." The pair had barely met before they started shooting. "In the trailer on the first day, I came in, and I was listening to what John was saying, and I was kind of like, 'Yeah,' and nodding," Chulmsky laughs. "I could tell he was like, 'Who is this?' and I was thinking, 'Anna, stop. You haven't introduced yourself yet,' but I couldn't stop being like, 'Yeah, I know this conversation.'" Again, Leguizamo credits a lot of their connection to Lehane, the author behind books such as Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone Baby Gone, as well as the award-winning series Black Bird, which also starred Rocketman's Egerton. "The way that Dennis juxtaposed our two opposing characters, and we're such an odd couple, is great," the Spawn actor enthuses. "I mean, she's a perfectionist and follows everything to the letter and does things by the book, and Ezra's a loose cannon. She comes to rein him in. They have such a great dynamic." Chulmsky adds, "Ezra's heart is on his sleeve. She has a heart, but man, is it contained? It's fun to see the characters blossom and explore when put in the same place." Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett in 'Smoke.' 'Smoke's Characters Do Things Wrong The Right Way Smoke and its cast of characters don't hold back. "It's very honest in the sense that in the world we live in, we are very sensitive and trauma-aware," Chulmsky explains. "Sometimes we are nervous about creating a character who says or does the wrong thing because it could be upsetting to the viewer. The way to do it right is the way Dennis does it, and where these things get said, people do the wrong thing. That's why we're discussing it and why we're traumatized by this. It's more about exploring how those conversations can even happen, as opposed to pretending that they just don't because they're too hurtful." Another of Smoke's unique qualities is how it subverts several genre tropes, including some related to the gender dynamic. Rather than the women of the piece not being listened to by the powers that be, here it's several of the men who are being given the brush-off by authorities. "I love your perspective on that, and it's true," Leguizamo enthuses. "I like the way that Dennis turns masculinity up on its head. Who is in power? Is it the guys or the women? I love that he doesn't go by the book, so everything is in the gray zone, and everybody is an anti-hero. It's a complexly written piece, and nothing is wasted. Everything is there for a reason and a purpose. I love the way he dives into the psychology. He explores it. He delves deeply into the rabbit hole of what causes a person to lose their empathy and care for human life. It's fascinating." Festooned with memorable scenes, including some spectacular fire sequences, Smoke often scores big wins with subtle scenes, including one where Leguizamo, Chulmsky, and Rafe Spall's character are in an office discussing a book deal. All three play it cool, but their glances alone say it all. "I loved that scene," she laughs. "I don't even say a lot in it, but it's still so fun because it's a different power dynamic. We're accustomed to the creative dynamic, and I also worked in publishing, so we're all accustomed to the situation where the publisher or literary agent has the power. They are like, 'I can accept your writing or not,' or a casting director will be like, 'I will have you do this reading or not,' whereas in this case, it was a case of, 'Yeah, you have the power, but we're asking you for something.' It was a really enjoyable thing because we've been around negotiations before, and it's a different way of doing it. It was fun." Taron Egerton in 'Smoke.' 'Land Of The Dead' Lives But 'My Girl 3' Is DOA Both Leguizamo and Chulmsky have storied careers with works that have stood the test of time, with Smoke being the latest addition to that. 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of Land of the Dead, a particularly pertinent piece of work by the late great horror director George A. Romero. "I was a huge fan of Romero, and the fact that George was half Cuban and from the Bronx, it was a big deal for me to work with him. He was a legend," he recalls. "I loved the political commentary of the film. He was always a political commentator in his work. Night of the Living Dead is an anti-war and anti-racism picture, and Land of the Dead was against fascism. He knew what was coming before it came to be upon us. I love that flick. I'm so proud to be a part of that movie." As well as Veep being an enduring show that people continue to discover as they digest the ongoing US political landscape, a whole new generation is discovering the two My Girl movies that gave Chulmsky her big break. With her continuing career ascendance and Jamie Lee Curtis being reappreciated by the industry and audiences, would she consider reuniting for a third film? "I'm going to stop you there," she says firmly but politely as I finish the question. "I've heard so many different ideas about that, but I will never, ever do one. I will never be involved in that." "Oh, wow," Leguizamo interjects with a laugh. "That's so definitive. You never say never in this business. I love that she takes a stand." "Yes, because I don't want to do it. Sorry. Life's too short," the Smoke actress confirms. "I don't need to do that. No. I played that character when I was ten years old. I don't have to play it as an adult."
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Smoke review – no TV show has ever been worth sticking with more
I never want to include spoilers, but sometimes they cannot be avoided. So, because I want you to stick with the new miniseries by Dennis Lehane, starring Taron Egerton (the pair reuniting after their great success with 2022's Black Bird), and enjoy the myriad benefits it will reap, I urge you to ignore any misgivings you have about the first two episodes of Smoke. Most of them will fall away. The tonal inconsistencies, the apparent self-indulgence of Lehane with his protagonist's hobby, the dabs of bad characterisation – just keep the faith. If you can't, then Google the true crime podcast on which Smoke is based and work out what must be happening from there. I'm not giving you the title because you'll be ruining a lot of fun for yourself. It is not as though sticking with it will be too much of a hardship, even if you do have loads of questions. At its inception, Smoke is at the very least a solid police procedural. Egerton plays Dave Gudsen, a former firefighter who became an arson investigator after a traumatic callout put an end to his original career. When two serial arsonists start setting fires all over his patch and his searches for them stall, a detective from the local police department, Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett), is brought in to help. She is in effect being punished for ending an affair with her captain (Rafe Spall) and is eager to catch the bad guys and restore her standing. Further complications to her private life include a mother in jail for an act first suggested by Calderon's flashbacks to a terrifying experience in her childhood, then confirmed by her attendance at her mother's parole hearing, in the face of deep hostility from her siblings. We meet one of the main suspects long before she and Gudsen do. Freddy Fasano (a mesmerising performance by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, which should see him clean up at awards time as thoroughly as Paul Walter Hauser did after Black Bird) is a cowed fry cook at a fast food outlet. Among other things, Lehane and Mwine make him a study in dreadful loneliness, whose ramifications spread like the fires set around the neighbourhood. One of the arsonists uses the 'divide and conquer' method – setting alight crisp aisles (So fatty! So flammable!) in supermarkets before starting bigger fires elsewhere so the emergency services are stretched thin. It suggests someone with a working knowledge of the department's resources, so Gudsen and Calderon begin the long task of matching firefighters' absence records with the days previous fires occurred and homing in on the possible perpetrator. Smoke becomes a cat and mouse game, with the opposing sides circling each other in ways that become increasingly extreme, but never quite tip over into preposterous. It is hugely entertaining, though it is a shame that the main story slightly swamps Freddy's and gives Mwine less to do as time goes on. But Egerton serves up an increasingly layered, clever performance as Gudsen, hitting every ball Lehane and the true story on which Smoke is based throw at him out of the park. It will certainly set him up for further and deserved success. Let's hope it does the same for Mwine. Hang in there, and enjoy. Smoke is on Apple TV+ now.
