'The Brink' series premiere review: 'Pilot'

Roberto & Kim Benabib’s The Brink makes no effort to hide its transparent intentions. It desperately wants to be cruder, more foul-mouthed Dr. Strangelove for the modern American age, and while it has a dependable cast and the desire to push forward at full cylinders, it doesn’t quite have the wit or charm to make this political war comedy explode on the scene.

A high-stakes war between Pakistan and the U.S. is emanate, and through three personalities on different scales of the government — though all more-or-less equally unbalanced — do we follow the events to come. Low-level embassy diplomat Alex Talbot (Jack Black) is stuck in Pakistan, and yet still tries to win himself into the one agency that rejected him twice already: the C.I.A. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the heavy-boozing, oversexed Secretary of State Walter Larson (Tim Robbins) tries to control the state of the nation in a time of near-panic, despite his irrational tendencies. And getting ready to fly planes and fire bombs for his country, fighter-pilot Zeke Tilson (Pablo Schreiber, a.k.a. Pornstache from Orange is the New Black), deals with the stress of his job on top of constant worries about his financial and home life instabilities.

Like HBO’s other political-based half-hour sitcom Veep, the jokes are quick, dirty, sharp-wielded and irreverent as can be. Despite this being the case, though, for any jokes that are at least mildly amusing there are two-or-three more that fall flat. Director Jay Roach keeps The Brink’s pilot moving at high-pitched speed, and it’s the eagerness of the cast makes this pilot more bearable.

Disappointingly, though, nothing presented thus far is particularly original or inventive, as evident from the comparisons already made. The commentary gnaws more than it bites, and though the sitcom may be as sanguine as its characters, it’s all fairly one-note and obvious. The pilot makes it clear that big things are at play, but the writing isn’t nearly as sharp as it would hope, crass as it would think or exciting enough to warrant a desire to press forward.

For all its desires to elevate itself through dark satire, the comedy here is often at a standstill. Every main character starts out broad to a fault, save for Larson’s dutiful assistant Kendra Peterson (Maribeth Monroe), though their bombastic tendencies are toned down a bit once the thrust of the story comes into play. The primary example of this is Black, who ultimately panders into his typical shtick, even though he tones it down enough to not make it as annoying as he very well could have been. As per usual, he’s definitely not hiding himself in the character, but he does bring his typical ferociousness to the character. He doesn't, however, quite direct it towards one fitting direction. Aasif Mandvi works fine enough counterbalancing Black, but is rarely given much do to in this first episode.

Schreiber, meanwhile, plays his character perhaps a little too straight, and doesn’t quite seem comfortable enough to really explore the frustrations of his character. Though it’s entirely possible these emotions are to be channeled inside for future benefit, particularly with a continuing association handling drugs on the job on display. Robbins, however, does a fine job as always with his egocentric yet aloof politician. He not only looks like he’s having a good bit of fun with his lewd character, but also channels Larson’s irreverent sense of humor with enough pose to make them easy to shallow.

Based on this first episode, The Brink may be a little too busy and a bit too quick to please to really fit itself into HBO’s stellar line-up of late. Although, much like fellow newcomer Ballers, it’s possible this one could find more of its sea legs once after this introductory episode. Time will tell, but as of now this can be said: by no means do the Benabibs’ create a complete bomb with their new series. However, this situation-room comedy could certainly leave room for improvement if it wants to end with a bang.

Image courtesy of ACE/INFphoto.com