Shetland star's 'outstanding' detective thriller has just landed on Netflix
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Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The only thing certain in this Jussie Smollett documentary: someone is lying
There's an overpowering sense of fact out-weirding fiction to The Truth About Jussie Smollett? (Netflix) – a sensationalist but oh-so-watchable documentary about the bizarre case of the American actor who claimed to have been the subject of a violent hate crime in Chicago in 2019. But, if undeniably more-ish, in one key respect, Gagan Rehill's feature-length account falls down – by the end the viewer remains in the dark about the guilt or innocence of the former Empire star, who continues to reject accusations that he faked the attack for publicity (and, it is alleged, to raise his profile as a gay African American leading man). Although, in 2021, he was found guilty of lying about the attack, that conviction was overturned in 2024. Interviewed for the film, Smollett burns with rage against the Chicago Police Department, which quickly dismissed his story about being jumped by two white assailants during a cold snap at 2am and having a noose dangled around his neck. 'Those moments have changed the direction of my entire life. My story has never changed,' he says. He has paid a heavy price – his character hastily written out of Empire, his acting career stalling. His anger at being disbelieved and charged with filing a false police report rings true. He comes across as a credible witness. Yet much the same can be said of Eddie Johnson, a veteran African American detective who led the investigation. 'He's just a very narcissistic and troubled young man,' says Johnson of the actor, before asking why Smollett refused to hand over his phone (Smollett says he didn't want the police to know about his drug use). But then we discover that Johnson was subsequently fired from his position with the Chicago PD, just before he was due to retire, for lying to his superiors about falling asleep on the job. The viewer is pulled one way and then the other. All sides will agree on certain facts. At the time of the alleged attack, in January 2019, America was already tiptoeing across the racial fault lines that would explode in the summer of 2020 with the Black Lives Matter protests. To make false accusations of a racially motivated attack was not merely foolish – it was actively dangerous. Yet it was equally true that the Chicago police had a proven record of racism and of falsifying evidence. Smollett says the attackers identified themselves as Maga supporters. But when the police claimed to have found the assailants by tracking an Uber driver in the vicinity, they were a duo of Nigerian-American brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo. It turned out they worked as extras on Empire – and they repeat their allegation that Smollett paid them to stage an attack. With the brothers' arrival halfway through the film, the case seems open and shut. But then British investigative journalist Abigail Carr and an American colleague, Chelli Stanley, produce new CCTV footage which they say captures two white men running away from the scene. However, it is, in truth, hard to make out if the men are white or black. Shown the picture, some interviewees on Smollett's side say ' black ', while those who think he's making it all up back his assertion that the attackers are white. While full of melodramatic touches – the alleged attack is recreated in stark freeze-frame, there are endless swooping shots of the Chicago skyline – the film ultimately circles back to the awkward fact that we may never know what happened. Smollett says he had no reason to lie and was embarrassed by the outpouring of sympathy he received until the police declared themselves sceptical about his claims. His critics remain convinced that he wanted to enhance his celebrity. The evidence is inconclusive, and by the final credits we're back where we started – confused about Smollett's guilt or innocence, but aware that somebody on camera has to be lying through their teeth.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
TV tonight: Miriam Margolyes in New Zealand is a guaranteed hoot
9pm, BBC Two After her great series exploring Australia, Miriam Margolyes is now in New Zealand, shooting a film in which she plays a nun. She invites the cameras to follow her as she asks how being a New Zealander is different from being Australian. ('I haven't got a flying fart of an idea.') Any show with Margolyes is a guaranteed hoot and serves up wisdom, too. Hollie Richardson 8pm, BBC Four Beethoven's Symphony No 9 was a joyful statement written as the composer was going deaf. It backends a Prom that also features Bent Sørensen's Evening Land, about childhood memories in Denmark, and Anna Clyne's The Years, inspired by lockdown isolation. HR 9pm, ITV1 The 1990s Canada-set true-crime drama ends in a dramatic courtroom showdown this week. Teenagers Kelly (Izzy G) and Warren (Javon Walton) are finally standing trial for the murder of a bullied 14-year-old, as Rebecca (Riley Keough) and Cam (Lily Gladstone) look on in mounting horror. Ellen E Jones 10pm, Channel 4 Caitlin is making a play for children's entertainer Michael, who harbours a sincere side under his giant mascot costume. Meanwhile, erotic fiction writer Immogen is searching for a romantic plot twist, and Elleigha, the naked cleaner, is ready to make a clean sweep. Ali Catterall 10pm, Sky Max John Cena returns as the hulking hero so devoted to peace he doesn't care who he kills to achieve it. But even after saving the world in season one, Peacemaker is still viewed as a liability, much to his dismay. The mix of puerile humour and ultraviolence may be divisive but Cena plays the self-delusional manchild to the hilt. Graeme Virtue 10.40pm, BBC One Pop's biggest star du jour Chappell Roan and Irish balladeer Hozier are Friday night's headliners at this year's Berkshire bash, with Bloc Party and the Kooks before them. This highlights package will bring the best bits. HR The Surfer, (Lorcan Finnegan, 2024), 7.25am, 12.35pm, 8pm, Sky Cinema PremiereLorcan Finnegan's sunburnt psychological thriller is an electrifying throwback to Australian cinema's new wave of the 70s and its studies in toxic masculinity. Nicolas Cage is almost too perfectly cast as 'the Surfer', a father hoping to introduce his teenage son to his childhood seaside home and ride some waves. However, a gang of larrikins led by Julian McMahon's smug Scally deem Luna Bay a locals-only venue – and will do anything to stop his attempts to surf there. This brightly lit but darkly menacing film grows increasingly hallucinatory and nightmarish as the Surfer is stripped of his money, phone, food, car, even his board. And Cage on the edge is, as always, a magnetic watch. Simon Wardell Women's rugby World Cup: England v USA, 6.30pm, BBC OneZoe Aldcroft leads the host nation's opening match at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Premier League football: West Ham v Chelsea, 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event At the London Stadium.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Cowboys' Jerry Jones defends team's emphasis on marketing itself
There's a fresh answer with the compelling eight-part docuseries, "America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys," that dropped this week on Netflix. It reminds us that no team does drama quite like the Cowboys. And it reinforces the fact that no team markets itself quite like "America's Team." "I explain it by hard work. I bust my ass," Jones, referring to the franchise's value and popularity, told USA TODAY Sports over lunch recently in his training camp office in Oxnard, California. "This exact same hard work that is going on in the football. I work my ass off. And that hasn't slowed down. This is the busiest I've ever been at training camp." All that busy work, though, hasn't resulted in a contract extension for All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons, whose "hold-in" attempt for a new deal has juiced the summer episode of the NFL's longest-running soap opera. And Jones freely admits he doesn't mind the drama. After all, the rift with Parsons keeps the Cowboys ticking on the relevance meter. The docuseries, meanwhile, adds more layers to the buzz. Sure, the rise and fall of Jerry's Cowboys - who haven't even advanced to the NFC title game in the 29 years since winning a third Super Bowl crown during the 1990s - deserves documentary treatment. There are electric characters. Rich storylines. Fascinating details. Heaps of controversy. Yet despite revealing perspectives shared by the likes of Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Charles Haley, among others, the docuseries feels too much like a slick, PR-crafted production. I mean, did they really need those cheesy Western-themed backdrops and effects? Also, for all the candid revelations from Irvin - who provided backstory from his 1996 drug possession trial and spilled the tea on the "White House" near the team's headquarters, where some players engaged in booze, drugs and sex escapades - there was no such depth relating to multiple controversies attached to Jones. Exclusive: Jerry Jones unplugged. He talks Micah Parsons contract Not that I'm surprised. Somebody had to sign off on all the access and cooperation that gave the project its juice. Rather than delve into the team owner's stance a few years ago against national anthem protests by NFL players or touch the since-settled legal issues linked to a woman alleging to be Jones' illegitimate daughter, the directing duo of brothers Chaplain and Maclain Way portrayed Jones in a manner he would undoubtedly approve of. Sure, Jones ignited controversy from the start of his ownership in 1989 when he, well, aptly replaced the legendary Tom Landry with Jimmy Johnson. And during the mid-'90s he sued NFL partners in breaking off to secure his own massive marketing deals. Look at how that controversy turned out: Forbes, in its latest compilation, values the franchise at $12.8 billion. And Jones, who bought the team for roughly $150 million, is in the Hall of Fame, having forever changed the NFL business landscape as the league's most powerful owner. Yet it will be tough for longtime Cowboys fans to waltz down memory lane without connecting the nostalgia with the current state of affairs. The final episode of the docuseries titled, "The Drought," covers the 29 years since Super Bowl 30. "What's the common denominator? Jones. I get it," Jones said. Then Jerry, who is on his eighth head coach since Johnson but will indeed get testy when asked about turning over the reins as GM, digs in. "How long has it been since Buffalo won the Super Bowl?" he said, knowing that the five-time defending AFC East champion Bills have never won a Super Bowl. "Buffalo hasn't been chopped liver. They're solid. They're probably in the top third of the NFL." The Cowboys, meanwhile, posted three consecutive 12-5 records under since-departed coach Mike McCarthy, with two NFC East titles, before sinking to an injury-riddled 7-10 finish in 2024. "I just can't get as convicted that the way we're doing it, that our approach to trying to win a Super Bowl, that that needs to change," Jones said. "I guess that's why I'm so defensive." He knows. The visibility that comes with being the NFL's biggest draw just increases the heat when they flop, year after year, in chasing another Super Bowl. Put another way, Jones says, "The ass-kicking that comes with this doesn't deter me at all." More Jarrett Bell: Todd. Freddie. Dave, Liam and Josh. Baker Mayfield has played for a plethora of OCs Of course, Jones, 82, can still sell it. When he maintains that over the past three decades the Cowboys are among the top six teams in the NFL for victories, it illustrates how hope is such a tangible resource. "That shows that you're not defunct," he said. "Fair? I know we're in range to have success." But still. A 29-year drought? "On two or three occasions, if not for a nano-second, a nano-factor, we would've been in the Super Bowl," he said, including the would-be Dez Bryant catch in a 2014 NFC divisional playoff loss at Green Bay, as an example. "So, I hang my hat on those times. "And I hang my hat on the fact that nobody gets to be in 20 of them. Maybe they experienced four of them, or three of them, or like Charles (Haley), five. Thirty years sounds like you should be in half of them. I don't look at it that way. I look at it like how many people have never been in one? I look at the three (Dallas won in the '90s) and I feel like I at least have three years left, or four or five years left, and there's always the promise that I can get it this season. Or get it next season." Now that's some serious spin. The scene from Dallas' last playoff game - a blowout loss against the Packers in a 2023 NFC wild-card round matchup at JerryWorld that was the worst postseason setback in the franchise's history - certainly provided compelling images for the final episode of the docuseries. Jones was in the locker room consoling players, including Parsons - the man now embroiled in a contract dispute. He hugged Parsons and whispered that the blowout wasn't the fault of the star player. To which Parsons mumbled, "I just wanna win." What a contrast to the vibe from the early episodes, which detailed how Johnson established a tone. The coach once refused to allow meal service on the team's chartered flight home after a disturbing loss. And in a classic tirade his first year, Johnson bellowed, "The asthma field is over there!" after one player explained why he collapsed while running wind sprints. Sure, times have changed. Some of the drills Johnson ordered during his demanding training camps wouldn't be tolerated today, under the collective bargaining agreement. Even so, somebody has to win big. And that is no longer the Cowboys' way. At least when it comes to winning on the field. Otherwise, business is booming for a franchise still commanding a huge presence on the NFL relevance map. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell On Bluesky:
