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« Cane
What a mess!
Cane is just another turgid soap opera with really poor cookie-cutter writing. In preparation for this series the writers apparently never bothered to actually learn anything about the sugar business. They should have known that in the US the sugar industry and the government conspire to keep domestic sugar prices so high that sugar growers would actually lose money by converting it to ethanol, thus totally destroying the central plotline. Or in the flashback to 1973, Pancho is seen working his fields with his *hands* when he learns his daughter has been kidnapped to force him to sell out to the Samuels. But if he's working the fields with his hands he can't own more than a few acres, and this is worth kidnapping someone's daughter for? Get real. Or there are currently 400,000 acres in Florida producing sugar cane, and apparently the Duques and the Samuels own all but 25,000 of them.
Of course nobody watched "Cane" for an agricultural lesson but it's this kind of sloppiness in getting the background details right (c'mon, guys, you could've spent the same 15 minutes on Google it took me find this out!) that bleeds over into the characters and the plot line. Nothing distinguishes the characters here and their motivations are all just sugar-coated artifice. The talents of the superb cast are just wasted.
I hope Nestor Carbonell still has guest shots on "Lost". At least that show makes more sense.
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Sep 27, 2007 2:23 AM
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I will admit I was sorely disappointed as well. I know nothing about the sugar cane industry, but I did wonder as to who the writer of this show was, and how they could have just skipped so many basic elements that make up essential drama?
I like Jimmy Smits, so he was the big draw to the show. I thought Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno were good casting choices as the patriarch and matriarch of the family(if they could have slid Edward James Olmos in there that would've been a dream!). But that's where anything good about the show ends.
First of all, the family name.....it is a very good thing that Smit's 'Alex' has the last name Vega. Because 'Duquet' just sounds like a fancy pronunciation for 'Dukey'! So I was giggling everytime the name was pronounced.
Secondly, why does Alex have to be adopted? Why couldn't he be a real son? And why couldn't the actress that Smits has zero chemistry with, be a woman from outside of the family? Maybe someone both he and his brother Frank, could possibly vie for? This adopted sister thing is just a little off putting to be romantic.
There are way too many children for TV screen time. I could care less about any of them or their problems. All that's needed is maybe one.
I've been watching dramas all my life. It's my favorite genre of television to watch. And yet this show became boring after 20 minutes. But I think it can be saved with a little creativity. Meaning either they recast Smits's wife or kill her off and bring in another love interest(I would LOVE to see Eve Longoria play opposite Smits but she's stuck over at the ever lame 'Desperate Housewives'). Frank has zero chemistry as well with the Samuels daughter, nor do I really want to see anymore bed scenes with those two.
None of the supporting characters can stand on their own, nor do they appear to have the acting chops to do so(except for Moreno and Elizondo). I think the show is going to have to step it up when it comes to passion and intrigue. And if they're not going to do that, then unfortunately they're going to have to up the level of violence. This show is touting itself as either a new 'Dallas' or 'Sopranos'. Well there isn't enough passion or intrigue from what I've seen so far for it to even compete with 'Dallas', 'Falcon Crest' or 'Dynasty'.
And the level of violence isn't shocking enough or intriguing to even begin to outdo 'The Sopranos'.
But you know what? I like Jimmy Smits so I will continue to watch until whenever.
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Sep 27, 2007 10:28 AM
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Sorry but I loved the show! It was one of the better pilot episodes this season and I am recommending it to my friends.
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Sep 27, 2007 6:16 PM
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Fact: sugar cane IS being considered for ethanol usage
Fact: the cast is excellent
Fact: the series is similar to latin telenovellas, will appeal to viewers
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Oct 3, 2007 7:36 PM
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I liked this show. I think in a few episodes it will get even better and more exciting. Smit's character is going to get deep I think. Layers of kindness and layers of cruelty. Just don't overkill that family loyalty thing. It's important but lets don't overdo it. As for the details, I watch to be entertained not to find all the faults I can. Just go with it. It is only a show. You think CSI's really go around carrying guns and interviewing suspects and arresting people? I don't care if they do or not in real life. I have real life, I watch tv shows to get entertainment.
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Oct 5, 2007 12:11 PM
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I don't watch TV to veg out, so going along with all of the blatant mistakes the writers are making with this show, just isn't me. Plus when Nip/Tuck starts up I'll finally have something exciting to watch in 'Cane's' time slot.
This second episode was even more abyssmal than the first one. And to make things ten times worse, I discovered that the only interesting people on the show are Frank, Samuels daughter and Samuels himself!
Jimmy Smits has a gentle quality to him. He can't pull off Mr. Meanie. He couldn't even kill the man that had sent a scorpion to his home! And Pancho keeps talking about how 'Frank isn't ready'. How about showing us why? Because except for his questionable taste in women, I have seen nothing that explains why Pancho bypassed his own son for Alex.
There could be a chance for Alex to have real romance with someone else if the scorpion returned and bit his wife again. And yes, this time it would be fatal. Then he could get with someone that was not his sister.
I wish this show all the luck in the world, but unless I hear of a reason to begin watching again, I'm going to have cut this program loose.
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Oct 7, 2007 7:02 PM
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