IF HBO had made a series called “Rack” about a woman whose only asset is her giant boobs — and thus the only thing she can market — I think I’d probably be railing against the backwardness of it all. That would be the PC thing to do.
So, how come I’m not upset that they have made a series about a man whose only saleable asset in this down market is his gigantic, well, let’s just say it ain’t his heart?
Oh, I know! For one thing, I’m a sexist and, for another, Ray Drecker, fledgling gigolo with a tiny wallet and a huge talent, is Everyman — if Everyman were a Superman in bed, that is.
And Ray Decker is that and less. He’s a divorced basketball coach who has two overweight teen kids, a gold-digging ex-wife, a burnt-out house, credit cards that have been stolen and maxed out and no way out. This could have been an incredibly sad and depressing series, but Ray, as played by Thomas Jane, is a guy you somehow don’t judge.
Nor do you judge his plain-Jane poet/ Birkenstock-wearing “pimp” Tanya, (Jane Adams – terrific!) whom he runs into (they had a one night stand once) at one of those upsetting “Become a Millionaire” seminars where attendees are encouraged by the motivational speaker, Floyd (brilliantly played by Steve Hytner) to discover their “winning tool.”
Tanya, who dreams of creating a lyrical bakery with poetry tucked inside cookies, is the only one who knows what Ray’s winning tool actually is and offers to “represent” him in his time of need.
At first he rejects her offer flat out. But after the house he grew up in burns down, his heart gets ripped out when his overweight, snarky kids (Sianoa Smit-McPhee and Charlie Saxton) go back to live with their mom (Anne Heche) and their new step-dad, Dr. Ronnie, (Eddie Hemison). And when the hideous next door neighbor tries to get Ray evicted from his tent, he finally decides to toy with Tanya’s idea. Interestingly, there isn’t any full frontal in the first four episodes although there’s plenty of full backal!
I don’t really know why this series is called a comedy because except for some nervous-laugh-inducing scenes such as when a shark-of-a-professional shopper makes him dance, or when his ex screams that her new husband has saved lives and Ray replies, “He’s a dermatologist!” you won’t find yourself yucking it up.
But you will find yourself cheering Ray onward and upward! And yes, I am ashamed of myself.