- Title: Eli Stone
- IMDb: link
Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) is a rainmaker at one of the largest law firms in San Francisco. He’s a favorite of the senior partner (Victor Garber), he’s got a proven track record, and he’s engaged to the boss’ daughter (Natasha Henstridge). Everything’s perfect, until George Michael shows up in Eli’s apartment.
Eli begins having visions, inspired by the pop star’s music, which foretell events to come and problems which he must somehow solve. A visit to his brother’s (Matt Letscher) medical practice reveals an inoperable brain tumor, but discussions with an alternative medical practitioner (James Saito) begin Eli to think maybe his hallucinations are real. Is Eli Stone a modern day prophet or has he gone nuttier than a Snicker’s bar? One thing is for sure, his simple life will never be the same again.
Miller comes off a bit like Chris O’Donnell‘s younger brother, but has done well holding the unorthodox show together. Henstridge is beautiful, as always, and I’ve really enjoyed Julie Gonzalo as the young naive lawyer Maggie Dekker. Loretta Devine also has a nice role as Eli’s secretary.
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I’m not sure how long the series can keep up its manic pace and if there are enough appropriate George Michael songs if it can. So far episodes have been named after songs (“Freedom,” “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “One More Try,” and “Freedom” – which you can see in this clip) which figure prominently into each episode. I also wonder how long Eli can keep his situation a secret as his odd behavior is already raising questions at the firm and in court. Today’s episode teases an answer, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. It seems to me the show would need to evolve in able to survive into a second season. |
Although the show comes off a bit like a B-version of Ally McBeal (hey, that hasn’t stopped people from watching Boston Legal) there is enough here to make this show worth checking out. With a strong cast and an unorthodox premise, I just hope the writing can keep up.