DVD Review: First Season of Sundance Channel’s Riveting ‘Rectify’

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Average: 4 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – As excellent as the current state of writing is in television, even our best programs often fit neatly into genres. It’s a three-party system — drama, comedy, and reality. And some of our most critically-acclaimed shows are so because of how they play within audience expectations (“Homeland,” “Parks & Recreation”) and not how they push them. “Louie” notably redefines comedy and I would argue that “Rectify,” while clearly a drama, feels like nothing else on TV. Someone (and I would credit if I could remember who) called this the “independent cinema” of TV and that’s right. Indie films take thematic and character risks that mainstream ones do not. It makes sense that the first breakthrough drama for The Sundance Channel would be a show as creatively unique as “Rectify,” recently released on DVD.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

“Rectify” may sound generic. A guy gets out of jail. He has to reengage with society. He may actually be guilty. But the themes and plot of this show are handled in such an original manner. Most showrunners would start by making their lead character, Daniel Holden (the mesmerizing Aden Young), more likable. “Rectify” makes him purposefully gray and it’s unclear what we’re supposed to think of him. As he seems to be re-entering the world not far off from the mindset of the teenager who went to jail for a crime it looks like he did not commit, he is hard to figure out. He certainly is so for his support structure, led by two great supporting performances by Abigal Spencer & Adelaide Clemens. The former tries to reach him but can’t while the latter taps into a need for the guidance provide by religion.

“Rectify” is a daring, original, often-brilliant program. It meanders a bit in its middle two episodes but this strikes me as the kind of show that, like “Breaking Bad” in its short first season, is setting things up now that may not pay off thematically for a year or two. It’s something filmmakers can’t do, playing the long game in terms of character and theme. And it’s one of several reasons that TV has been more creatively vital than film for the last decade. Shows like “Rectify” are merely proof that the golden age we’re in shows no sign of ending.

Rectify was released on DVD on June 18, 2013
Rectify was released on DVD on June 18, 2013
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Synopsis:
When Daniel Holden is released after 19 years of complete isolation on death row, he returns as an outsider to his family, to his community, and to the times. Somehow, he survived the mental and emotional strain of his imprisonment, but now the walls have suddenly come crumbling down and Daniel is set free in a world he no longer understands. He’s an outsider, lost in a once familiar world, struggling to navigate his newfound freedom.

Special Features:
o Sundance On Set: Rectify
o Meet The Cast
o Inside Job: Behind The Scenes
o Inside The Episode With Ray McKinnon
o Behind The Screen

“Rectify” stars Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Luke Kirby, and Adelaide Clemens. It was released on DVD on June 18, 2013.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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