Rake (2014)

Kinnear is solid, but his Keegan is a work in progress--both as human being and TV character.

The pilot is carried on Kinnear's rascally charm and is heavy on quirk.

Rake has enough varied story elements to not fall into the procedural courtroom drama. Kinnear is a natural in the starring role, effortlessly making the shambles of his character's life seem not only plausible, but also sympathetic.

Kinnear carries himself ably, and his character’s amiable rogue presence wears fairly well for starters. The long haul may be problematic, though.

If you can’t love the rake in Keegan, then you sure can’t love the lawyer in him either (since it’s barely developed in the pilot). That leaves Rake as an overly familiar character study and an under-developed law procedural.

Fox originally provided a different pilot for Rake, one that wasn't so lighthearted. (Really.) That episode will air later, after, the network hopes, we've come to love this bad boy despite his foibles.

Rake is a little bit like the bad Sundance movie version of a procedural, a sturdy genre project tricked out with twee and antic detailing, in the hopes you will find all the appended doohickeys sharp and adorable and not notice how predictably the story is chugging along.