When will the true crime hype finally end? Do detective stories really need the kick of the supposedly authentic? Is a “Based On A True Story” in the opening credits a sign of quality? Or is such a hint just proof that the series makers don’t trust their story alone to captivate the audience? The fact that the story that “Black Bird” tells is based on a true criminal case doesn’t make the series any better: The FBI offers James Keene, who has been sentenced to ten years in prison for drug trafficking and gun possession, a deal: he will be the Pardoned if he manages to get a serial killer in prison to confess.
Taron Egerton, who was already Robin Hood and Elton John, plays this James Keene as a thoroughly unsympathetic muscleman. And although Ray Liotta as Keene’s father in one of his last roles proves once again how much he was underestimated as an actor all his life, the miniseries stretches a story that might have offered material for an hour to a total of six episodes and also fails as a guilt and atonement drama. (AppleTV+)
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