Tom Hardy makes a particular sound that I just love.
James disappeared to Africa 10 years ago.
Hardy’s no stranger to TV work.
Credit: Robert Viglasky/FX
He was a Jewish gangster in Steven Knight’s BBC crime dramaPeaky Blinders.
(Knight and Hardy co-createdTaboowith Hardy’s father, Chips.)
But much ofTaboos fun derives from watching Hardy’s Oscar-nominated aggro-grand charisma explode onto a smallscreen costume drama.
ButTaboos star stalks through the finery like a wild dog.
Hardy infuses James with a relentless bull-in-a-china-shop paranoia.
He looks trapped, and the only way out is to chew all the gorgeous scenery.
I’ve seen three episodes ofTabooand couldn’t tell you what it’s all about, really.
James' dad owned land on the U.S.-Canada border.
Jonathan Pryce has a ball as the Company’s chieftain, dropping F-bombs with gusto.
(You get the message: This ain’t fingDownton.)
Mostly, James hangs out with prostitutes and lusts for his sister (Oona Chaplin).
When he adopts a dog, it’s a dog that eats corpses.
He’s up to no good, and he’s clearly planningsomething.
So there’s post-woke political anti-imperialismandotherizing white-dude-gone-wild cultural imperialism fun for the whole family!
Taboos gruff and tough and silly, and I’m hooked.
I could watch Hardy read the phone book.
I assume he would eat it.B+
Taboopremieres Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m.
