Sharp at the (Home) Movies: Hung

If you weren’t convinced by the Washington Monument or the Chrysler Building, the story of America is one the carries with it serious phallic connotations. But while a country’s rise to greatness can be summed up by this symbol, so now can its inevitable fall. HBO’s new series, Hung, offers a glimpse of what happens when the American dream falls short.

Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) is a former high-school baseball star and current high-school basketball coach in today’s run-down Detroit. He’s tired, divorced (from Anne Heche), and uninsured when his house (his parent’s house) erupts in flames. Forced to supplement his schoolteacher’s income, he takes an entrepreneurship seminar and, with the help of his ex-flame Tanya (Jane Adams), discovers how to use his “greatest tool” to make money. Hung is a comedy, but its humour is subtle and pointed at a time when the phallic symbol of America may well be monumental, but decidedly less triumphant.

The first episode, which aired this Sunday on HBO Canada, was directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways), but allow the pilot to establish the premise and the subsequent episodes find more humour in Drecker’s broken world. If anything, Hung is an anatomy lesson on a country in turmoil. It is funny, and it would be absurd if it didn’t hint at what was so real. And for that alone, it’s worth watching.

Hung airs Sundays at 10 EST on HBO Canada. See hbocanada.com for more information.