American Sports activities Story: Aaron Hernandez has lots of concepts about why the titular athlete’s life went the best way it did, however that expansiveness is the foundation of the brand new collection’ drawback. The fourth iteration of FX and government producer Ryan Murphy’s American Tales anthologies, it lacks the verve of early American Horror Story, and, extra sadly, it’s lacking the cultural specificity and societal interrogation of The Individuals v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. As a substitute, the present performs out a bit like a Wikipedia web page placed on digicam, with a number of poignant moments and intelligent artistic choices to make it no less than worthwhile alongside the best way.
Hernandez’s story is a tough one, and it’s dropped at life by actor Josh Rivera (his first main function after notable supporting turns in West Facet Story and The Starvation Video games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes). Raised in Bristol, Connecticut by an abusive father and a self-absorbed mom, Hernandez was an early athletic standout, and that expertise was his ticket out of a life that others noticed as destined for poverty and prison exercise. He joined the College of Florida underneath coach City Meyer (Tony Yazbeck), the place he fell deeper into drug use and aggressive habits, constructing a less-than-stellar status forward of the NFL draft. Picked up by the Patriots, Hernandez’s skilled profession was profitable however finally marred when he was charged and convicted of first diploma homicide for the killing of Odin Lloyd. Following a separate homicide trial and public rumors about his homosexuality, Aaron dedicated suicide whereas in jail.
There are many issues that would have led to Hernandez’s violence, and American Sports activities Story touches on all of them. On condition that the collection is predicated on The Boston Globe and Wondery’s complete podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Soccer Inc., it is smart that it tries to be as exhaustive as its supply materials—tries being the operative phrase. There’s a distinction between reporting and storytelling, and American Sports activities Story doesn’t join its dots the best way it ought to. Hernandez’s latent sexuality, his drug issues, his historical past of abuse, and the more and more apparent penalties of so many blows to the pinnacle as a soccer participant all pop out and in of the story. These points get particular person consideration, however they by no means coalesce.
At occasions, the digicam work and sound design mirror Hernandez’s burgeoning persistent traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative situation that lots of of different NFL gamers have been identified with. In these scenes, it’s like Hernandez’s senses are rebelling in opposition to him, laying the groundwork for his breakdowns and outbursts, however the frequency of that artistic selection is perfunctory at greatest. The CTE angle advantages from the collection’ nice work in depicting simply how harmful soccer is, with each sort out and rush punctuated with the sickening crunch of pads and our bodies colliding. Even the supportive smacks from teammates reverberate by Hernandez’s cranium, and you actually get a really feel for a way his physique retains the rating.
What’s far much less efficiently portrayed is Hernandez’s struggles along with his sexuality. Within the earlier episodes, he shares a tentative relationship with a fellow highschool soccer participant, one thing supposedly true to life. Because the collection progresses, although, an invented character, Chris (Jake Cannavale), turns into a male love curiosity. The invention isn’t an issue, however the inconsistency in Hernandez’s characterization that it brings about is. They go on a boys’ journey to Cabo and regularly make time to hook up; Hernandez has no qualms about exploring his sexuality, completely happy to maintain this relationship occurring the aspect whereas he has a girlfriend (Jaylen Barron) at dwelling with a child on the best way. But, within the locker room, he’s hypersensitive to the homophobic jokes and speculations that his teammates throw round. Hernandez is concurrently safe in his sexuality (even content material sharing a years-long relationship with a person!) and afraid of it; the present desires it each methods, even when it doesn’t make a lot sense.
In fact, we by no means see Hernandez grapple with this rigidity. Except for the concussion and CTE camerawork, Hernandez doesn’t get a lot inward examination in any respect. As a personality, he’s emotionally stunted and immature, and he doesn’t change very a lot over the course of the collection’ ten episodes besides to worsen. He’s a tragic determine, doomed by figures and establishments who solely care about what he can do on the soccer area, however the present doesn’t lean into that sufficient. A few of the most compelling components of the story include Hernandez’s time on the College of Florida, which concerned an early and unearned highschool commencement and assist to keep away from jail time from the workforce’s de facto protection lawyer. Each Florida coach Meyer and Patriots coach Invoice Belichick (Norbert Leo Butz) are basically cartoon villains on this story, however it’s not all that far off from the reality.
In that sense, American Sports activities Story opts for broad strokes and broader performances that typically encapsulate Aaron Hernandez’s life. His coaches are chilly and self-interested. The identical might be stated for his shrill and opportunistic mom (Tammy Blanchard, doing a distracting quantity of appearing), whereas his older brother DJ (Ean Castellanos) resents Aaron for being the athlete he needs he could possibly be. Cousin Tanya (Lindsay Mendez) doesn’t have a trait exterior of her loyalty to Hernandez. Patrick Schwarzenegger seems as Tim Tebow to present middling youth pastor vibes, one of some obscure participant impersonations all through the collection.
It’s all consultant of the present’s lack of specificity, its incapability to really interact with the multiplicity of points that plagued the clearly troubled Aaron Hernandez. The collection is hardly actively unhealthy, however it does little to tell apart itself as a narrative with one thing to say.
