Tulsa King

The result is the perfect marriage of actor and material, with Stallone relying on his trademark formula of charisma, intimidating physicality and clever dialogue uttered in a low, often self-deprecating growl.

While it’s mainstream fare when compared to such sublime mafia fish-out-of-water comedy dramas like Get Shorty and Barry, it’s entertaining, nonetheless. Winter, of Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos renown, is on home ground with his playful script and the series doesn’t waste any time setting out its stall.

The challenge for “Tulsa King” will be to expand beyond the “What a great idea!” stage. Right now it’s trying to be a whole lot of things at once: mob comedy; fish-out-of-water story; family drama (Dwight wants to reconnect with his estranged daughter); small-time-crooks yarn. It has plenty of time to make room for all of that, and the dynamite premise and talent pool isn’t going anywhere.

Tulsa King is far from perfect. Things happen in a sitcommy way — Dwight walks into Bodhi's dispensary and a few minutes later is running the place — and supporting characters are underdeveloped. But the two episodes sent to critics are a very promising start.

It’s a role and a series that has clearly been tailor-made for Stallone, playing to his particular brand of mealy-mouthed charisma. ... It also doesn’t have anywhere near the humble, world-wearied power of Stallone’s work in the Creed films, but with his slick one-liners and gruff deadpan, he manages to carry the entire series on the back of his imposing frame.

The Tulsa location is distinctive. Stallone is never not interesting, so the best moments are his quiet ones. ... The question for Tulsa King going forward is whether it can complicate Dwight's archaic act or sanctify him as a boomer bull in a millennial china shop. Right now, it's a frictionless fantasy about making instant friends, attracting younger women, and instantly knowing everything about the legal pot industry.

Every plot point is so absurd, each line of dialogue so corny that "Tulsa" is a compounding engine of cringe, at least in the first two episodes made available for review out of nine in total. It's like one of those cheesy direct-to-video "Geezer Teaser" action films, but longer to sit through.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The first season of Tulsa King was ok, nothing special but not a bad product. The second is even simpler than the first and I find some of the lines of dialogue very random, as if they were gap fillers.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Painfully bad on almost every level. The plot is dumb, the acting almost universally lifeless, and even the action is generally boring. Safe to skip this one unless you're champing for that next Expendables "hit."

Ce bon vieux Sly tient toujours la forme !… avec bien sûr un peu d’aide de quelques charcudocs… mais le voir distribuer quelques pains (quelle générosité)… comme s’il avait toujours 40 piges, ça fait tout de même bizarre. Mais le pire à voir, c’est de le regarder parader comme à la parade, sans arrêt ! Certes, on sait qu’il a chopé le melon depuis longtemps déjà mais selon ses rôles (parfois, du moins certains), il savait se mettre justement au service du rôle… comme dans les premiers Rambo et Rocky… Mais ici, il parade, il claironne, il radote, il ringarde, il ringardise… il se ringardise lui-même ! mais sans être drôle pour autant, même au second ou troisième degré. Et c’est fatigant, très fatigant… et très énervant aussi. Comme le ton général de la série ou le manque de ton peut-être. Qu’est-ce donc au fait ? une comédie ? pas réellement. Une série policière ? pas vraiment. Et puis, on est où là, dans ce patelin de merde du fond du trou de balle des états réunis de l’Amérique à blaireaux ? Et c’est quoi cette histoire complètement invraisemblable, tous ces évènements qui laissent incrédule, ces dialogues ratés et ridicules à la fois ? cette fausse nostalgie de vieux con sur le retour ? et ce rythme en dents de scie et toujours plus mollasson à chaque fois… Pourtant les épisodes sont en nombre limité (9) et souvent assez courts (moins de 40 mn avec le résumé). Qu’est-ce qu’ils ont foutu, franchement ? on nage dans les clichés périmés et le grotesque à la limite de la bouffonnerie ! c’est navrant.