Did you ever think that two actors like Jason Bateman and Jude Law might someday play brothers?
Well, that’s what Netflix’s new crime thriller series Black Rabbit gives fans with its first season, which just hit the streamer. Bateman and Law star as Vince and Jake Friedman, sent together into the dark criminal underworld.
The eight-episode season follows the unstable Vince as he disturbs his brother Jake’s cushy life, working at Jake’s restaurant — until they discover Vince is being hunted by loan sharks.
Watch With Us breaks down why you have to binge Black Rabbit this month.
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It Has the Same Chaotic Energy as ‘Uncut Gems’
Viewers will likely find atmospheric similarities between Black Rabbit and the non-stop anxiety of some familiar pieces of popular media. There is a clear influence from The Bear in addition to its forebear, the Safdie brothers’ hit 2019 film, Uncut Gems. Black Rabbit’s high-stress environment depicted of the restaurant industry is very The Bear, while the Chicago setting is swapped for the gritty NYC streets of Adam Sandler’s Gems character, Howard Ratner, who, like Vince, has debts to pay and precious little time to pay them.
However, these influences don’t feel like crutches. Instead, they combine beautifully so that Black Rabbit synthesizes into its own masterful piece of absorbing storytelling that is so anxiety-inducing you somehow can’t bear to look away.
It Offers Great, Sleazy Neo-Noir Vibes
The urban sprawl depicted in Black Rabbit is giving something between Michael Mann and David Fincher. With a grimy, dark green color palette courtesy of cinematographers Peter Konczal and Igor Martinovic, it gives the streets of New York City an almost placeless and timeless feeling. The city is no longer as dangerous as it was in the ’80s, but it certainly looks like it could be when watching Black Rabbit.
It also evokes one of Bateman’s previous shows, Ozark, both in content and visuals (it should be noted, his former costar, Laura Linney, directed one of Black Rabbit’s episodes). If you’re going to do a show about a criminal underworld, it’s important to get the vibes right.
Jude Law and Jason Bateman Have Never Been Better
Law and Bateman don’t feel like a particularly obvious pairing to portray brothers on screen, but the Arrested Development alum and The Talented Mr. Ripley actor make it seem like they should’ve been siblings this entire time. The pair sells the tragedy of their background with affecting aplomb, both playing to their strengths as actors.
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While technically playing against type (he typically plays straitlaced guys trying to hold it all together), Bateman’s role as the family screw-up is not too far removed from his Michael Bluth, while Law does well as the esteemed golden boy. Thus, their pairing complements one another, while adding a richness to everything else in the show. They are incredibly adept at convincing us they’ve spent a lifetime both hating and loving one another.
Stream Black Rabbit now on Netflix.
