“Landman” is the new “Dallas”

With “Landman”, Paramount+ brings Taylor Sheridan’s new project to the screens and this time focuses on the tough and merciless oil business – with room for improvement.

Spoiler warning – this message may contain hints about the continuation of the plot!

This is what happens in the first episode of the drama series “Landman”

To use the word “lousy” about Tommy’s (Billy Bob Thornton; Goliath, Fargo) job in Landman is a gross understatement. For years he has been pulling the coals out of the fire for a powerful oil company when things get tough. He gets landowners to sign leases, sweeps accidents and other sloppiness under the rug, and keeps the oil flowing.

But when his company opens a massive new oil field on a drug lord’s land, the kind of complications that money alone can’t make disappear begin. In addition, his ex-wife has very special plans: She is sending his seventeen-year-old daughter to him to stop her from doing something very stupid with a good-looking college football star. Slowly but surely, Tommy’s life gets out of control, especially since his bosses can’t keep their greed under control…

Discover the Paramount+ offer now (affiliate link)

A little “Dallas”…

Oil, power, money, greed, intrigue. Anyone who has seen the 80s ratings hit Dallas (2012) or has a soft spot for soap operas will probably be very familiar with this selection of topics. Basically, “Landman” does nothing other than stir the old porridge well and reheat it. Based on the pilot episode, this works reasonably well, especially since series creator Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone; Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown) came up with a nice trick for her debut.

Billy Bob Thornton in der Serie „Landman“ © Paramount+

The story begins with a dilapidated hall in the desert where a man we don’t know sits tied to a chair with a sack over his head and is taking a beating. The question of what’s going on here is quickly answered when several guys with the words “drug lord” and “bodyguard” seemingly written on their foreheads enter the field. The beginning may be cliché, but it doesn’t fail to have its effect, because in this way the writing team points out to us that we are not (or should be) dealing with just a simple soap opera.

As the teaser continues, we finally get to know the main character, Tommy Norris, whose job is perhaps best described as a problem solver. It quickly becomes clear that it’s about oil and a lot of money. Of course, the company prevails and six months later there is a huge oil production facility on the cartel’s land, complete with accommodation, bars and everything that goes with it.

…or a little more…

The strong and relatively action-packed beginning of “Landman” is put into perspective after the intro, so that from now on we more or less follow Tommy every step of the way. This means that we get to know his ex-wife and his pubescent daughter, who soon shows up at the door with her boyfriend at her mother’s behest.

This part is clearly intended to expand on Billy’s background and make the character seem more human and warmer than he appears in the teaser. This works quite well on a dramaturgical level, but it also takes the pace out of the narrative and provides the telenovela touch mentioned above, which perhaps wasn’t necessarily needed.

The second main storyline revolves around Tommy’s son Cooper (Jacob Lofland, Justified), whom he is teaching a lesson. Norris has his son trained as an oil worker under the leadership of one of his Mexican teams, which the boy does surprisingly well. At the end of the episode, however, a momentous event occurs, which we do not want to go into further at this point for spoiler reasons. However, it should be revealed that the series makers came up with a mean eye-catcher here…

In order to inform the audience about how those in power operate, the series takes a look into their ranks in small, nicely staged sequences. People push and tinker as much as they can. However, the potential for identification is missing in the relevant scenes, so that these minutes rush past us more or less inconsequential.

Tonality and technique

The points of criticism mentioned above do not make “Landman” boring or even bad. However, the format doesn’t exactly leave the impression that it necessarily has to be on the screen. The tonality, like the look, is based on typical neo-westerns, country music and long, lonely, dusty roads included. From a purely technical point of view, the series is also okay, but without standing out in any way.

The editing isn’t too hasty, you work relatively often with fades and wide angles. The dialogues are routine, but not innovatively staged and the bright colors adapt to the topic. As I said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, but the whole thing hasn’t left a lasting impression so far.

The performers

Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore in the series “Landman” © Paramount+

Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris proves to be a great anchor and eye-catcher. The character exudes toughness and masculinity, although Tommy obviously also has another side when it comes to his daughter Ainsley, played inconspicuously by Michelle Randolph (1923). In fact, it doesn’t make sense to remember any other names so far, since all the characters are very bordering on irrelevant and are therefore correspondingly uninteresting. There is also no sign of the well-known acting icon Demi Moore in the pilot episode, so nothing concrete can be said about her appearance.

Conclusion

The debut of the series “Landman” was not a bad success, but most likely not everyone will remember it. The story feels like one of many in almost all respects, although nothing can yet be said about the development of the main storyline. Since the season has a total of ten episodes, a lot can still happen in this direction.

Landman: Previews for the Paramount series

View photo series