In George Pelecanos' new collection of short stories Owning Up, the iconic crime writer defines film noir as: "Nothing is going to be all right, ever."
It's a zinger that repeatedly comes to mind watching the first two episodes of Colin Farrell's Sugar, an LA-based mystery that sees the Dubliner playing a cinema-obsessed private eye who thinks he's in his own film noir.
Regarded as the best at what he does, John Sugar's 'superpower' is "finding people that are lost, bringing them back to those that miss them". He is hired to locate the granddaughter of a legendary Hollywood producer (LA Confidential's James Cromwell) - and so the peeling of a huge black onion begins.
With its pacy storytelling (our man drives a Stingray Convertible), riffs on old movies, and a case that "just keeps growing", Sugar loads plenty of twists into its opener and follow-up. As the street-smart and suave hero, Farrell splices together toughness with wide-eyed wonder of the world and the people in it. "I'm one of the good guys," he tells us, "although to be fair, out here good and bad can be in the eye of the beholder." Sugar has seen too much, but he hasn't written off humanity in the process, and there are heart-warming moments amid the hardboiled tropes.
This Autumn, Farrell will be back in Gotham City in the Batman spin-off series The Penguin, transforming once again into the titular villain for further noir duty. Sugar adds to the excitement of that countdown. Like the character's Savile Row suits, this role is tailor-made for Farrell. Behind the scenes, he also serves as one of the executive producers, and there's a sense that he's double-jobbing because he thinks there's more to this show than meets the eye. We'll see. Certainly, there's more than enough in the first two episodes to make you want to see what happens next. New instalments will arrive on Apple TV+ every Friday.
And when you've finished watching, find the time to savour Farrell's monstrous turn in the 2021 BBC series The North Water. It's available on the RTÉ Player and, like Sugar, is a testament to just how brilliantly versatile an actor he is.
