Angela Black, on Spectrum

In movies and TV, conventional legal divorce would often be so much easier, especially if you have as much money as Angela Meyer’s abusive husband Olivier. She will be using her maiden-name soon, for reasons we can certainly understand. He wants to get rid of her and keep custody of their boring children, but she proves to be more resilient than he expects in Harry & Jack Williams’ Angela Black, which premieres tomorrow on Spectrum.

On paper, the Meyers’ marriage looks happy, but he often beats her in private, for the smallest grievances. At least he is frequently away on business. After the latest thrashing, she finds herself alone at a bar on Halloween, where she is approached by a strange man, Ed Harrison, who seems strangely interested in her. At their next not-so-coincidental meeting, he claims to be a fixer, who has done questionable work for her husband. He warns her Olivier has some ominous plans for her, but he is here to help her (you know, just like the government).

The next three episodes are a smorgasbord of violent outbursts, gaslighting, snooping, and protective services acting stupid. There are also some clever thriller elements, but for seventy-five percent of the series, the tone is closer to Sleeping with the Enemy than Hitchcock. However, the concluding sixth episode either redeems the preceding melodrama or elevates it, depending on your tastes and perspective. There is even a bit of a hat-tip to Patricia Highsmith that pays off handsomely.

A Crooked Somebody: Maybe it is Better to be an Honest Nobody

Michael Vaughn is a professional psychic. He is also a conman—obviously. The one clearly implies the other. He has been scuffling through crummy commuter hotel gigs. However, he will try to convert a crisis into a blockbuster career break in Trevor White’s A Crooked Somebody (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Vaughn is tired of life on the road with Chelsea, his business partner and shill-of-last-resort. Nevertheless, his act is still good enough to impress Nathan, a violent drifter who still carries the remorse of a decades-old murder. Convinced Vaughn made a connection with his victim, Nathan kidnaps the phony medium with the intent to kill. Instead, Vaughn exploits his guilt, promising he can help bring comfort to his victim’s restless spirit and his now grown daughter, Stacey (who was a major sob-story, back in the day).

Shrewdly, he convinces Nathan to lead him to where the body is buried, so he could “discover” it as part of a media event. He does indeed become a trending topic, but he also attracts the suspicious attention of the local cops. Nathan also starts to doubt his sincerity, while Stacey refuses to participate in the media circus.

Crooked Somebody shares a kinship with Irvin Kershner’s The Flim-Flam Man, because both films explore the ways in which bunco artists often get help from their pigeons to con themselves. They also share small-town-off-the-interstate settings, which are convenient if you might have to leave town in a hurry.

As Vaughn, Rich Sommer is impressively committed, portraying him in just about every way a man can be unpalatable, from smug smarminess to whiny desperation. He certainly makes him quite a piece of work. Joanne Froggatt’s Chelsea is subtly reminiscent of Lizabeth Scott in her hardened noir prime, but without any hanky-panky going on. Yet, the best work comes from Ed Harris and Amy Madigan as Vaughn’s devout parents. Thanks to them and screenwriter Andrew Zilch, the Vaughns are not moralizing caricatures. In fact, their faith and earnestness are ultimately quite beautiful and touching.

Frankly, Crooked Somebody works better as a grifter character study than a caper-con. Zilch’s narrative has a few reversals and betrayals, but it would need more to hang with the Ocean franchise and Mamet’s big con films. However, the characters are consistently intriguing and increasingly compelling as the stakes rise. Mercifully, it also avoids the “hey, maybe he’s suddenly psychic, after all” subplot, like it is the doomsday plague. Recommended as a modern, media-savvy Flim-Flam descendant, A Crooked Somebody opens this Friday (10/5) in New York, at the Cinema Village.