Tom Holland stars in and executive produces AppleTV+ thriller “The Crowded Room,” and the show is an incredible commercial for the way he shouldn’t quit his day job as Spiderman.
Now streaming, “The Crowded Room” is a miniseries created by Akiva Goldsman, set in the summer of 1979 in Recent York City.
The plot follows troubled young man Danny (Holland) after he’s arrested for open firing a gun near Rockefeller Center. On the time of the incident, he was with a friend, Ariana (Sasha Lane), but she vanished, and only Danny gets arrested.
The cop accountable for his case (Thomas Sadoski) thinks Danny may be a serial killer, but, fellow cop Rya (Amanda Seyfried), has doubts.
As she questions Danny, he begins trusting her and opening as much as her. Flashbacks reveal his life leading up up to now.
He was unpopular in class, had a crush on a woman (Emma Laird), had an abusive stepfather (Will Chase), and a caring mother (Emmy Rossum – confusingly solid, as she’s 36, and her onscreen son Tom Holland is 27).
It’s all rote stuff, like this show is checking the boxes for what the background of a “troubled young man” stock character ought to be.
Several heavy-hitting actors appear in minor roles, akin to Jason Isaacs, though they feel underused.
The show is loosely based on the book “The Minds of Billy Milligan” (which provides away the gig in case you Google it).
In reality, it’s quite easy to guess the massive reveal just from seeing that title, or from having a passing familiarity with the psychological thriller genre.
Holland has grow to be best generally known as the most recent Spiderman within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and for dating Zendaya), a job which demands spry wit and comedic timing from him, way over the intensity and moody gloom than his role in “The Crowded Room.”
He’s held his own in some serious dramatic roles too (akin to within the movies “How I really like Now” and “Within the Heart of the Sea) but notably, he wasn’t at the middle of those movies.
It’s comprehensible that he’d need to break away from Marvel and prove his “serious” chops, but “The Crowded Room” is a somewhat uninspired vehicle.
The actors with the perfect luck of breaking away from popcorn fare include Robert Pattinson and Daniel Radcliffe, who each found success going for riskier and weirder roles after “Twilight” and “Harry Potter,” respectively.
“The Crowded Room” will not be dangerous or oddball. It has the potential to be each, but isn’t not interesting enough.
It’s not a dreadful show.
The performances are good, and the production value is high.
But, it’s so much more boring than it ought to be, especially considering its material.
The pacing is plodding, the writing is uninspired, lacking a certain tight and clever quality that the genre needs.
And, the surprises are few and much between.
Especially when “The Crowded Room” is held up alongside higher crime thrillers that also explore the human psyche, this show pales as compared to “Mindhunter” or “Sharp Objects.”
Watching it, it’s hard not to consider all the opposite shows which have done similar concepts higher.
Holland isn’t without talent – and after all, Seyfried and Rossum are each established stars.
But none of them are enough to bolster this insipid show.
