"The Cigar Saga" details the outrageous journey of Huey P. Newton through the Hollywood film industry
This story has a bizarre twist to it, and anyone acquainted with that era will undoubtedly be intrigued by the illustrious figures who barely make an appearance. However, the Apple TV+ series offers a glimpse into a specific time period that falls flat.
At the heart of "The Big Cigar" lies a resemblance to the recent Paramount+ series "The Offer," which captures the rebellious spirit that swept through Hollywood in the early seventies, ignited by the anti-war movement.
Here, that rebellious spirit is represented by the eccentric Bert Schneider, played by "The Many Saints of Newark" star Alessandro Nivola, who was the unconventional producer of "Easy Rider" and "Hearts and Minds" and later made headlines with his questionable Oscar acceptance speech for the latter.
Before that, Schneider was linked to Newton (André Holland), a Black Panther leader who had already spent time in prison and faced further sentencing due to accusations, he claimed, of murdering a 17-year-old girl. Choosing exile, Newton warily becomes involved with Schneider, who devised the scheme of creating a phony movie ("The Big Cigar," illustrating the title) to hide the complexities of their plan.
In an indicator of those times, celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, and Richard Pryor bump into Schneider, while Newton possesses a type of actual-world fame that the producer undoubtedly finds captivating. Newton reminds him that they're manipulating his life, not a game, with Schneider frequently treating the entire experience like a film shoot needing interferences, irritating his producing partner Steve Blauner (P.J. Byrne).
Spanning six episodes that usually last 40 minutes or less, "The Big Cigar" moves at an average pace, while boasting notable names behind the camera as well, with Don Cheadle among the producers and directing the first two episodes.
However, the story becomes sluggish at times as both the producer and the revolutionary handle their respective bureaucracies, while Newton struggles with paranoia - much of it justifiably so - about the police lurking outside every door and listening at every keyhole.
Marketed as mostly true, "The Big Cigar" indulges in some imaginary elements when the story would have better benefited from embracing those satirical urges or strictly adhering to the facts.
From that viewpoint, the show achieves its high point early when Newton, as the narrator, questions whether Hollywood will correctly depict his tale. Balancing somewhere in between, "The Big Cigar" justifies these reservations, presenting a fascinating historical instant in a less than entirely enthralling manner. In terms of making it into the upper echelons of limited series, it falls short, just missing the mark.
"The Big Cigar" debuts on May 17th on Apple TV+. (Disclosure: Lowry's wife works for a division of Apple.)
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Despite the captivating historical events and famous figures involved, the portrayal of "The Big Cigar" in the Apple TV+ series fails to fully capture the public's imagination, missing out on the opportunity to showcase the Entertainment industry's role during that era.
The show's sluggish pace and mixed blend of fact and fiction fail to encapsulate the Entertainment value that would have been derived from such an unusual and resemblant story, like the Paramount+ series "The Offer."
Source: edition.cnn.com
