'The Westies' Review: J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver Carry MGM+'s Slick but Ordinary Mob Drama
Set among the Irish gangs of 1980s New York, 'The Westies' is technically polished but leans on some of the genre's most familiar tropes when it comes to character depth and originality.
MGM+'s new mob drama 'The Westies' follows people who refuse to bow to the rules on a textual level: in the Irish and Italian criminal organizations of 1980s New York, low-level gangsters take on rivals they've been warned to leave alone, and mid-level ones sell drugs their bosses have banned. On a meta-textual level, though, the show does the opposite: across an eight-hour season, it never colors outside the lines.
In her THR review, Angie Han notes that while the pairing of J.K. Simmons (Eamon Sweeney) and Titus Welliver (dirty NYPD officer Glenn Keenan) is strong enough, the creators of 'Godfather of Harlem,' Chris Brancato and Michael Panes, have delivered a gangster series that's both highly competent and overly familiar.
The story, directed by Alan Taylor in the pilot, opens with a ceasefire between the Irish Westies and the Italian Gambino family, which includes John Gotti. The two bosses — Sweeney and Paul Castellano — decide to halt the war so they can both profit from the Javits Center construction project. But the lower-ranking men aren't happy with the truce. Tom Brittney's young Jimmy Roarke and Hamish Allan-Headly's young John Gotti represent that discontent. Meanwhile, FBI agent Birdie Polk (Jessica Frances Dukes) circles the organization.
What does it get right? The pacing is smooth, the tension consistent, and production designer Rocco Mateo's weathered New York is thoroughly convincing. Simmons and Welliver manage to slip a sense of exhaustion and inner life between the lines. Even a casual viewer can follow exactly what's happening.
What does it get wrong? Almost none of the characters exist as an "individual." Lead character Jimmy is "good and smart" simply because heroes are supposed to be that way. The subplot involving his girlfriend Bridget (Sarah Bolger) and her IRA past has potential but feels almost disconnected from the main story. His close friend Mickey is nearly a parody of the "angry low-level gangster" trope.
The most damaging choice is reducing John Gotti to a total cliché: he's introduced bursting into laughter as if insulted by someone lower-ranking — because of course he has to be.
Han's verdict is clear: while classics from Coppola, Scorsese, and David Chase masterfully weave together style, character, and idea all at once, 'The Westies' only follows the silhouette of that tradition. It's a show "too clean to hate, too dull to love." Airdate: Sunday, July 12, on MGM+.