After a successful run as a series on Showtime, Ray Donovan is back in feature-length film format. Ray Donovan ran for seven seasons and after it was cancelled rather suddenly, I am sure fans waited for the day that a movie would be made to wrap things up in a satisfying way. I don’t know if everyone is totally satisfied with the way this ends, but surely fans of the Donovan family will happily take them any way they can get them.
A change of format (film versus series) does not mean a change in the formula we have come to know. However, there is a full-circle feeling to it as the setting changes from Los Angeles to the Donovans’ native Boston. They return because Ray’s (played by Liev Schreiber) past comes back to haunt him as well as the entire family dealing with the violence that has plagued them throughout. They are going to have to stick together like never before in order to get out of this.
This time he is not only portraying the lead character, but he co-wrote the script for the film. Ray Donovan has always featured some great acting on the part of the cast comprised of Jon Voight, Eddie Marsan, Pooch Hall, Katherine Moenning, Kerris Dorsey, and Dash Mihok, but make no mistake, this is a star vehicle for Schreiber.
This is definitely for fans of the series as if you have not seen the series then you probably won’t “get” all that is happening here in the 1 hour and 40 minutes. You must have some previous knowledge to get all that is intended. A decent job is done here to tie up any of the storyline ends from the series. Stays true to the style of the series and the behaviour of the main characters. Gritty and real. The ending is a cool mixture of light and dark.
