Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, Shea Whigham, Tatiana Maslany, John Lithgow, Gayle Rankin, Nate Corddry, Veronica Falcon, Jefferson Mays, Andrew Howard, Eric Lange, Robert Patrick, Stephen Root, Lili Taylor, Matt Frewer, Diarra Kilpatrick, David Wilson Barnes, Taylor Nichols, Aaron Stanford, Molly Ephraim, Gretchen Mol, Jenny O’Hara, Justin Kirk.

For television viewers especially, a character is already drawn before they have had chance to them. All of the great protagonists have a history that unless we allow ourselves to dig deeper than what one medium lays out in stone, we never fully understand their actual motives and drives later on, the one moment that made them who they are when we introduced to them in all their pomp and glory.

The same stream of consciousness thought should also apply to history itself, what makes a person the individual they are is how they respond to the situations they witness, that they are thrust into, by acts of violence, by acts of murder, by the dishonesty of others as they seek to gain an advantage by any means necessary.

Strange moments in the history of a city calls for extraordinary men and women to step forth, some kicking and screaming into the arena, some unknowingly placed there by forces beyond their control and others because they are the best person to tackle the issue at hand, and for Perry Mason, Time has decreed that he fits the bill in Depression hit United States of America on all three counts.

For many Raymond Burr is the epitome of the Los Angeles defence attorney, larger than life, he was the symbol of the post noir, post-war seeker of truth and justice, and for that he became a television institution. Yet somehow the character he portrayed never really became a fully rounded man, the audience wasn’t invited to gain insight into his relationship with the position, with how he became the man who terrified villains and opposing counsel, however, all good things and explanations come to those who wait, and in the 2020 re-imagination of the early days of Perry Mason’s career, that one pivotal moment which cemented his life as the leading figure in restorative justice in the City of Angels, has become a fascination in itself.

In the eight part serial produced by HBO, Perry Mason is seen at the very start of his career, beaten by the system which has seen him default on property taxes, hired to do dog tail investigation work by taking photographs of celebrities in compromising positions for tainted money, used and abused by all, except for his friend Della Street; this is a man at the very bottom, and as he thrust into taking on the case of the decade, the death of young child, the man becomes a legend.

With Matthew Rhys as Perry Mason, the series gets its beautiful noir feel, the Welsh actor who has already impressed on screen countless times in his own career, gives the private investigator/defence attorney a vulnerable naivety and guilt carrying demeanour which is the perfect place in which to build the strength and fortitude of a legend from.

With superb performances by Juliet Rylance as Della Street, Chris Chalk as beat cop Paul Drake, Tatiana Maslany as Sister Alice McKeegan, Gayle Rankin as Emily Dodson and Shea Whigham as Pete Strickland, this grittier, more demanding life of Perry Mason is one to be observed, enjoyed and relished in.

The law is nobody’s friend in 1932’s Los Angeles but having Perry Mason on your side certainly makes it worth fighting. 

Ian D. Hall