‘Goliath’ Is Must-See TV

In a recurring visual and ambient leitmotif for the fine and sometimes perversely magnetic Amazon show Goliath, a crane shot brings us swooping down on the Ocean Lodge Hotel in Santa Monica. This visual cue adds mythic and film noir-ish measure to the humble home of our antiheroic protagonist, lawyer Billy McBride (Billy Bob Thornton), who we quickly learn has descended from champion attorney to elbow-bending downward spiral. He also spends much time in the nearby retro-kitschy watering hole Chez Jay — to marinate, to work, to pass the hours of his sorry life — and occasionally drifts to the Santa Monica Pier area, bottle and self-destructive will at the ready.

But alas, in a scenario reminiscent of Paul Newman’s sodden but rebounding character in The Verdict, and any number of other models in film and television, a case lands in his lap so ripe and so demanding of bringing to justice, he snaps out of his stupor (if stopping short of actual sobriety) and gets very busy. Courtesy of the dimple-grinned Thornton’s strange blend of Southern charm and pockets of venom, our hero brings out his suitcase of cunning and doggedness to a David v. Goliath–esque fight against an immoral weapons corporation and the death of a worker by exploding boat.

In a legal battlefield with a deep-pocketed, government-abetted defense company, the challenges are many — including intimidation, judge-baiting, framing, and possible visits from a hit man. Thornton resorts to clever and resilient tactics, such as calling on his friend Brittany (Tania Raymonde), a prostitute with a heart of gold and a habit. The plot’s thickening includes his former partnership — and now contentious sparring partner — with creepy law-firm magnate Donald Cooperman (William Hurt, in another of his sordidly compelling roles, killing it softly), who responds to the pending legal action with, “I want a ‘shock and awe’ shit show. Should this man sue us, he needs to regret it.” Billy’s ex-wife (Maria Bello) still works with him. Side plots involve the tension of his tenuous relationship with his daughter, in-house conniving at the law firm, and our hero’s own redemption.