On a lean night, he hocks his jeans to pay for a flophouse bed.
Then he needsmoremoney to rent pants so he can makemoremoney for tomorrow’s flop.
Ain’t that capitalism?
‘Ultra City Smiths’.Credit: Elephant Pictures/Stoopid Buddies Stoodios/AMC
“I know no one’s buyin' what I’m sellin' anymore,” he says.
“My street name’s Street Hustler Boy.
I’m 42 now.
‘Ultra City Smiths’.Elephant Pictures/Stoopid Buddies Stoodios/AMC
I make no sense.”
All these words are crazy, but the wonderful AMC+ original comes from Steve Conrad.
And the dolls sing!
‘Ultra City Smiths’.Elephant Pictures/Stoopid Buddies Stoodios/AMC
The whole world looks busy yet desolate: the precise mood of a lonely subway ride.
It’s beautiful in a jagged-edge way, evoking multiple eras of urban arcana.
The characters' stutter-y movements can be funny, moving, or mind-bending.
The six-part season starts when Det.
Gail Johnson (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) pairs up with rookie David Mills (Jimmi Simpson).
She’s the seen-it-all cynic.
He’s the newbie from upstate who’s been taking dance lessons since he was 7.
Everyone is a suspect, and there’s a lot of everyone.
Did one, some, or all of them kill Carpenter K. Smith?
ButSmithsis much more than an eccentric goof.
The second episode establishes that all the main characters are closely linked, by blood or decade-old lies.
Those are just a few bites of the narrative pretzel.
Visual gags and outlandish songs whirl into an enigmatic family saga.
The sad joke is that they don’t.
Bus fare is too expensive.
There are 22 stars listed in the opening credits, including Tom Waits, whose raspy narration runs throughout.
His lines can be ridiculous (“This is the greatest story ever told!")
Randolph’s maternal exhaustion breaks your heart.
It often sounds like they’re whispering their lines into their microphones.
Some of the other actors go much bigger.
The finale arrives next Thursday, and thenSmithswill air on AMC proper in September.
Spring for AMC+ now.
it’s possible for you to get a seven-day free trial, and a subscription runs $8.99.
It’s a modest fee, really less than the cost of a back scratch.A
