The Reel Review
The West Texas oil and gas industry and the people who live and work there are the backdrop of this neo-Western drama series starring Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter and Jon Hamm. The series, from creator Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) and Christian Wallace, is based on Wallace’s podcast, Boomtown.
Imagine modernizing and adding more grit to the late 1970s and 80s mega-hit TV drama Dallas and moving it to Midland, Texas, the source of all that wealth-generating oil and gas. As landman Tommy Norris, the problem-solving middleman between property owners and oil and gas companies, Thornton is the heart and soul of the series, spouting off snarky one-liners and soliloquys, be it about his dangerous business, Mexican drug cartels stealing his corporate jets to smuggle drugs or the day-to-day drama from his dysfunctional family.
Larter (Legally Blonde, Final Destination) and Michelle Randolph (The Throwback, 1923) bring comic relief to the series as Tommy’s often wildly inappropriate ex-wife and drama queen daughter. It’s a nice break from the oilfield saga’s otherwise serious tone. Other standouts are Jacob Lofland (Justified, Mud) as Tommy’s roughneck son Cooper and Kayla Wallace as the underestimated company attorney. Hamm and Demi Moore, as the oil company executive and his wife, have comparatively little screen time. Even so, despite a few clunky moments with its colorful characters, Landman is an entertaining watch and a fascinating glimpse inside a world few will ever experience in person. Season two should be fun too.
REEL FACTS
• Taylor Sheridan said he had Billy Bob Thornton in mind for the starring role when he created Landman.
• Billy Bob Thorton played Coach Gary Gaines in the 2004 film Friday Night Lights that was set at Permian High School in the Midland/Odessa area.
• The Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico is one of the world’s oldest petroleum fields. The first well was drilled in 1920. Since then more than 30 billion barrels of crude oil have been recovered.
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