Review: 'The Deuce' is a gripping portrayal of prostitution and porn

James Franco stars in the grimy reimagining of the 1970s as a pair of twins, Vincent and Frankie trying to etch out a living in New York. The highly anticipated drama series debuted to low fanfare. As the writers lay the foundation for our story, the multi-character storylines tease a dark reality waiting to be told.

The Wire co-creator David Simon returns with his latest drama set in the gritty, dirty New York of the 1970s perforated with jazzy, flashy movie signs that dazzle in the background as prostitutes and pimps put their game out there on the streets. Although this was the pilot episode, the writers didn’t hesitate to delve into the seedy underbelly of the whole premise: prostitution, sex in the streets during broad daylight, drugs, sidewalks covered in trash, piling mob debts and deals gone wrong among the mix of storylines the show is juggling.

In most films and tv shows, New York is depicted as a harmonious, clean vibrant city. Director Michelle MacLaren put a new lense on the city with her shots focusing more on the weary day-to-day living of the characters in an ever-churning New York where the new and shiny are churned out fast. Only the resilient and savvy survive in this city.

Within the first thirty minutes of the show, a gaggle of characters are introduced. The first is our main character, Vincent “Vinny” Martino (James Franco), cashing in the nights earning from his demanding jobs as a bartender at two bars that keeps him too busy to be there for his wife and two sons. The next major scene is the arrival Lori (Emily Meade) in New York on a Greyhound bus ready to start work under her new pimp, Reggie Love (Gary Carr).

Armed with raw grit and and strong determination, Lori is set on making it to the top. Things like love don’t matter to her when it comes to the potential money she could make naively based on the promises Reggie makes her. Lori’s character is a great introduction to how strongly written the females are: a strong individual that knows what she wants and how to get it.

Which it leads us to one of the shows most dynamic characters: Eileen Merrell (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Better known by her street alias “Candy”, she mans the streets on her own with her deft business sense and glamorous get-up in sequined outfits that spark under the traffic lights. Our first shot of the glammed up sex worker is at night where she expertly assesses potential clients while pimp Rodney (Method Man) miserably fails to woo Candy into working under him.

“I’m keeping all the money I make off my own pussy.”

Candy isn’t afraid of anybody, clients or competition. Rodney falls back after he realizes she isn’t interested but not before leaving a few thinly veiled threats that Candy might end up harmed without the protection of a man.

Paid sex, prostitution, gambling, and marital crises are casual occurrences. Abigail “Abby” Parker’s (Margarita Levieva) first scene is of her riding her teacher into ecstasy before she callously ruins his satisfaction. A few minutes with Abby reveals her cynic, uncaring attitude both in her approach to dabbling in drugs and as a 20-year-old college student at New York University where it's obvious she would rather spend her time anywhere else but in class.

The show lacks any significant action save for a set of thugs that rob Vinnie in the opening scene and rambunctious sex play. Unless you're a fan of lengthy, dialogue driven stories, this series might be a little tedious to sit through.

Although the show hit on a lot of cliches like easygoing pimps with hidden mean streaks, workaholic husbands, college kids dabbling on the wrong side of the tracks, sex workers who have a family they've left behind to build a better life, the writers weave in a material that present a myriad of possibilities as to what direction the characters lives might take. We get a few tidbits about each character that leaves of room for exploring their backgrounds, ambitions, and motivations in upcoming episodes.

The most pivotal point of the season is the Frankie’s brief appearance at Vincent’s job. You can just look at Frankie and tell he’s up to no good so it will be interesting to see what trouble he brings into their lives now that he’s back in New York. Vincent has been dodging what appears to be a mob that was after his twin and I doubt the drama ends there.

In a final scene, Vinnie is back in the bed of his lover, Barbara (Kayla Foster), until they hear a woman screaming down the hallway. The reluctant bartender is pushed by Barbara to assess the situation where he finds a pimp threatening one of his former workers about the dangers of trying to leaving his roster: you wind up dead in the streets. Vinnie’s calculated decision to brush the encounter off says a lot about most of our characters in this series: self-preservationists in a seedy world where street smarts are your guide of survival and helping others could get you killed.

The Final Verdict

Clocking in at 88 minutes, the pilot is a lot to sit through for it to be nothing more than a cursory introduction. It didn’t deliver too much of a storyline but it did introduce us to all the main players with small revelations peppered throughout. The writers did an astounding job of keeping the web of stories separate while dropping a few subtle hints that certain characters are bound to cross paths. At around forty minutes, it started to feel like there was an information overload. Vinny serves as a vehicle through which much of sleazy New York is viewed as he traipses from jobs, to gambling, and cheating on his wife among other things.

The revelation of Candy’s son staying with her mother was a great tidbit to the end the episode with to draw viewers back next week to learn about the seemingly self-assured woman and how she winded up on the streets fending for herself. As for Vinnie, things are positioned to get a little worse. His good-for-nothing brother Frankie is back and stirring up trouble. Darlene’s low performance and penchant for clients that love role play may lead to the sweet, unassuming girl to getting tangled up in something she can’t control.

With so much open speculation surrounding the characters, there are lot of questions needing answers. Namely:

• Why does Candy’s son live with her mother?

• Why does Candy have posters of Marilyn Monroe? Did she attempt to become an actress and fell on hard times?

• How did Candy, Lori, and Darlene get into prostitution?

• Who is after Frankie?

• Is Vincent’s wife cheating on him?

The Deuce airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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