Let’s face the music, but this time it’s from Ennio Morricone. No one can ever match Clint Eastwood when it comes to being a complete badass in any situation. Even as a decrepit Detroit grandpa in Gran Torino, Eastwood could inspire boot-quaking in the hardiest of individuals. Others may try to emulate and equal, but they will certainly fail. So when FX put out Justified this season—a show about a Stetson-wearing U.S. marshal reassigned to the Kentucky hill country after using questionable methods while assigned to a post in Miami—viewers could certainly expect that the supposedly outlaw-esque lawman would strive for Eastwood excellence.
To belabor the obvious, Timothy Olyphant is no Clint Eastwood. As U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, Olyphant attempts to convey a character first imagined by Elmore Leonard in his novels Pronto and Riding the Rap, and in his short story “Fire in the Hole.” Whether Olyphant does a good job capturing Leonard’s character is irrelevant; what matters more is whether the former Deadwood star can create a character that will capture the attentions of the audience enough to earn the series a second season.
When asked about the nature of an incident inwhich Givens shoots a man in Miami and is consequently reassigned to Kentucky, all Olyphant utters is, “It was justified.” To be a badass who captures the adoration of an audience like Eastwood, that phrase needs to be uttered in a manner such that there will be no further questions. But, alas, this is not the case here. A southern drawl sugarcoats the phrase, a slightly guilty smile curls on Givens’ face, and it seems like the character is not a man trying to uphold the law of the land, but rather a child trying to explain why he took a cookie from the cookie jar.
No one is asking for gravitas in a Western style lawman. Too much seriousness and he loses the rugged individuality that so defines such a character. Just show some evidence that you actually possess balls. Granted, Givens can possibly refute Einstein with the speed at which he draws his gun, but that’s just skill. He can come up with ideas to deal with a tricky situation, and doesn’t mind facing the consequences when his ideas fail, but he does little to evince the complete disregard for the outside world that characterizes a superb Eastwood performance.
Five episodes in, Justified’s producers haven’t decided who they want Givens to be. Like a poorly composed recipe, the end result is a dish that makes your guest question your intentions. By tying him up with troubles with his lawbreaking father, romantically involving him with a witness in a pending case, and placing his ex-wife in the thick of things, the creative team behind the show fragments Raylan into a character that does little to attract viewers searching for an escape from their own realities.
We all pine for Eastwood, and while Olyphant might try to create a new character within the canon of Westerns, he is too vaguely defined to pass as a decent alternative for those nights when AMC isn’t showing a classic like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
