Spenser Confidential

Coming March 6.

I am torn. I can see Wahlberg as Spenser, but to me, Avery Brooks WAS Hawk.

Same here, although Robert Urich really did embody Spenser for me, as well. I don’t mind remakes, but I suspect this is going to bounce right off me.

Edit: Winston Duke as Hawk ostensibly is pretty great though…

I was a heavy reader of the books, and Spenser in the books is bigger, and more of a thug than Urich. I had the same problem with Stacey Keach as Mike Hammer. Both, I thought, did well with the roles but also had to redefine the characters from the books.

Reading the books again, I picture Urich as Spenser, so he was successful in that regard.

I read the books as well, right around the time the show hit. My brain glossed over any physical differences. Urich in a down jacket seemed big enough to work, and he worked for the literary aspects of the character. Brooks and Urich are kind of locked in to my memories.

Same here, now. I re-read the books recently, and they frequently mentioned how often his nose was broken. Ulrich did make the relationship with Susan much more believable than a thug-type actor would.

Out today.

I read a couple of the books a long time back, but honestly don’t remember much. This seems to be a very loose adaptation.

However, I found it incredibly enjoyable. It’s pretty dumb. Okay, it’s very dumb. It’s peak Wahlberg; opening scene is Marky Mark in prison beating up solo aryan brotherhood inmates to a song by the band Boston. The next punch out is in a cop bar, and it’s set to “Sweet Caroline”. The southie accent on his girlfriend is possibly the thickest ever recorded. The movie has no subtlety and I love it for that.

If you like campy old school 80s action movies you’ll get some good mileage out of this. If you can’t stand Wahlberg, this is probably the last thing you ever want to see.