‘American Gigolo’ Review: Showtime Series Comes Close to Squandering Jon Bernthal’s Magnetism
captured the excess of the 1980s while presenting a captivating portrait of loneliness, its supposed sequel struggles to find purpose or even settle on a tone in its first three episodes. So, thank God and/or casting director Wendy O’Brien for placing Jon Bernthal, who’s already turned in one extraordinarily kinetic performance this year, at the center of this otherwise meandering murder mystery. The “We Own This City” actor leads the series as Julian Kaye, a sex worker who’s wrongfully convicted for murder, imprisoned for 15 years, and exonerated — all in the hourlong series premiere.