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Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys - Nathan
Ford With the economy in its worse shape since the Great
Depression, the TNT series Leverage came at exactly the
right time, as its first season comes to DVD with all 13
episodes that features guest stars Lauren Holly (NCIS),
Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and Sara
Rue (Popular, Less Than Perfect). Academy Award winner Timothy
Hutton leads a team of modern-day Robin Hoods of this recession
against rich and powerfully corrupt businessmen, morally
bankrupt law enforcement and government officials. ***
Nathan Ford was an insurance investigator whose personal
and professional life is on the rocks (so to speak) since
the death of his son and the end of his marriage, which
led to depression and alcoholism. Still "an honest man in
a dishonest world", he's been hired by Victor Dubenich (Saul
Rubinek) to lead a team of criminals to steal aeronautical
plans which was stolen from him by his business rival, or
so he said. When the team discovered that they're the one
who'd been scammed, they seek payback against their client,
and after their vindiction, they decide to stay together
and use their skills to help people as Leverage Consulting
and Associates. Nate is "the man with a plan": the white
knight/Black king. His team consists of hacker Alec Hardison
(Aldis Hodge), mercenary Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane,
Angel), quirky thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf), and con artist
Sophie Devereaux, Nate's budding love interest and the best
actress -- when breaking the law. ***
Consider Leverage as The A-Team meets The Equalizer
meets Ocean's Eleven meets Hustle: aiding those who have
nowhere to go, balancing the scales of justice, evening
the odds, and pulling off risky scams against the greedy
and heartless on behalf of those that can't fight for themselves.
Before watching the new season on July 15, get the first
season and see what I'm talking about. ***
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| Special
Features: |
Audio commentaries of all episodes, deleted scenes,
and five featurettes ("Leverage: Behind the Scenes", "Anatomy
of a Stunt Fight", "The Cameras of Leverage", "Leverage
Gets Renewed", and "Beth Riesgraf: Crazy Actress Spoof Video")
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