SERIES REVIEW – Netflix recently premiered its miniseries Florida Man, with a promising premise: an ex-cop (Edgar Ramírez) returns to his native Florida to find the runaway girlfriend of a Philadelphia mobster who has stumbled onto a buried treasure. What was supposed to be a quick mission turns into a dangerous journey to buried family secrets, becoming an increasingly futile treasure hunt. Unfortunately, the series fails to fulfill its potential and descends into a boring, clichéd and discredited crime drama, wasting the viewers’ time and patience.

The man from Florida is the creation of Donald Todd (This Is Us), who is also a writer and showrunner on the series. In addition to star Edgar Ramírez, the show also stars Abbey Lee (Mad Max: The Wrath of God), Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace), Otmara Marrero (StartUp) and Lex Scott Davis (The First Purge). The eight-part series was released on Netflix on 13 April and has been received rather negatively by critics, with a score of 54/100 on Metacritic and a 63% freshness index on Rotten Tomatoes.

A cop, a woman and a truck

Ramírez plays Mike, an ex-Philadelphia cop and gambling addict who pays off his debts to mobster Moss (Emory Cohen) by collecting other people’s debts and running errands.

One of those jobs turns out to be Moss’s bitch Delly (Abbey Lee from “Lovecraft Country,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Old”), who’s on the trail of a skinny blonde femme fatale who’s run away to Florida.

It turns out that Mike had a “thing” with the boss’s girl, and that Mike used to live in Florida. We find out that he’s estranged from his rather “loose morals” ex-cop father (Anthony LaPaglia, fantastic). It turns out that Mike’s ex (Lex Scott Davis) is on the task force of the Philadelphia police investigating Moss.

And it also turns out that Delly has stumbled onto something big, a staggering fortune, an undeclared treasure that implicates Mike, his father and a NC deputy sheriff (Clark Gregg) who is visiting Florida with his family and whose gun Mike stole from the airport baggage claim.

Double-crosses, stabbings in the back, deaths and faked deaths, and a treasure hunt play out in the background, while local TV reporters chirp and chuckle as they comment on the silly things Florida Man in his many idiotic incarnations gets up to – robbing convenience stores with a sword, breaking into a jail, etc.

When nothing works

The inherent flaw in The Florida Man is that he can’t decide what he wants to be: a serious crime drama, a satirical comedy or a thrilling adventure film. The story tries to combine all these elements, but fails: it is full of logical gaffes, clichéd characters and implausible twists. The plot also fails to take advantage of Florida’s unique atmosphere and culture: the locations are boring and clichéd, and the locals are stereotypical characters. The series fails to make the viewer laugh or get them excited: the humour is forced and tasteless, and the action is flat and boring.

The only thing duller than the script is the acting

Apart from a lacklustre script and boring direction, the actors are not up to the mark. As Mike, Edgar Ramírez (American Crime) plays a jaded and depressed cop with no interest in anything. In fact, we could say we don’t care much about him either, because Ramírez’s performance is too subdued and boring: he shows no serious emotion or motivation. As Abby, Abbey Lee (Mad Max: The Wrath of God) plays a rebellious and mysterious woman who always gets into trouble.

But Lee’s performance is the opposite of Ramirez’s and the other side of the horse: she’s too snappy and annoying: not at all believable or sympathetic. But the supporting cast is no better: the thoroughly “humanized” Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace) as Sonny plays the usual clichéd mobster; Lex Scott Davis (StartUp) as Iris: as Mike’s ex-wife, she is completely out of character; as is Otmara Marrero (The First Purge) as Patsy, Mike’s sister. Except for LaPaglia, these actors, who are otherwise of high quality in other films, completely disappear, dying into their roles.

Let’s go on holiday to Florida instead

The Florida Man is like a lame travel brochure, while we sat down in front of it expecting a good crime series. The script fails to capitalise on the excitement of the treasure hunt and the Florida setting, offering only a dull and silly story, while also failing to decide whether it wants to be serious or funny, and so it becomes neither. The actors fail to portray interesting or sympathetic characters and just get lost in clichés. The Florida Man is a real disappointment from Netflix, as the streaming channel has countless crime series that are miles better than this.

-BadSector-