Art Fair Specials

7

Thursday, July 21, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS

TV REVIEW
Red card for ‘Ballers’

By SHIR AVINADAV

Daily Arts Writer

Booze, 
boats 
and 
women 

constitute the opening of the 
season two premiere of “Ballers” 
and characterize 
much 
of 
the 

ostentatious 
imagery 
of 

football in all its 
professional and 
personal glory on 
the show. Though 
the partying and 
excess 
depicted 

in 
“Ballers” 

may be the TV 
incarnation of some repressed 
fantasy of what it’s like to have 
that much success and wealth, the 
show does more than just flaunt 
it. It uses tropes of the industry to 
show another side — a side where 
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who 
plays former NFL star Spencer 
Strasmore, must find fulfillment in 
his post-career life.

This desire is the driving force 

behind Spencer’s aspirations as 
he settles into his new career as 
the go-to financial manager for 
professional football players. As 
season one taught us, success 
is 
capricious 
— 
and 
Spencer 

charms his way into helping his 
clients navigate the personal and 
financial perils that come with 
overconfidently indulging in it. He 
adds a much welcomed maturity 
and depth to counter the abundant 
antics of his clients.

But even a character as measured 

and composed as Spencer begins to 
show cracks in his armor, especially 
when his past resurfaces. In the 
season two premiere, this takes the 
form of Andre Allen (Andy Garcia), a 
competing manager from Spencer’s 
financial firm who used to represent 
him and who he blames for his 
injury 
and 
ultimate 
departure 

from the league. It’s clear from the 
beginning of the episode that Andre 
will be implicated in the central 
conflict of season two both as a 
remnant from Spencer’s past and as 
new competition. At the restaurant 
opening of one of Spencer’s clients (a 
cameo appearance by Ndamukong 
Suh), Spencer refuses to even shake 
Andre’s hand.

Fittingly, Spencer’s Achilles heel 

is his pride, which is threatened by 
Andre’s belittlement of Spencer. 
But “Ballers” may have shown 
their hand too soon by openly 

identifying Andre as the primary 
conflict that will drive season 
two’s plot. After hinting later in 
the episode that Andre’s actions 
spurred the downfall of Spencer’s 
career, the mystery surrounding 
the animosity between the two is 
unceremoniously lifted and Spencer 
vows to steal all of Andre’s clients 
–– a brazen statement and a bolder 
mission characteristic of Spencer’s 
determination, cementing the roles 
both Andre and Spencer will play 
this season.

Though season one hinted at 

Spencer’s weaknesses, it’s clear the 
writers intend to trigger them in the 
current season. Johnson’s charm 
carried him through season one and 
effectively pulled together a great 
ensemble, but it appears that he’s 
shed his characteristic good nature 
in an attempt to reflect the tipping 
balance of his confidence and 
composure. However, it seems that 
both Johnson and the writers know 
that the emotional range required 
to develop Spencer’s character 
are beyond Johnson’s charismatic 
grasp, and he’s better left lashing 
out in short bursts of emotionally 
charged bravado than brooding and 
acting troubled because he hasn’t 
gotten closure on his past.

This is proven in his spat with 

football player T-Sizzle (NFL player 
Terrell Suggs), who’s represented by 
Andre, on “Glazed and Confused.” 
Sizzle manages to prod Spencer into 
a violent altercation on live television 
following a round of sharply written 
verbal 
smackdowns. 
Though 

heated, the sequence is intercut with 
reactions from Ricky (John David 
Washington, “Malcolm X”) and 
his crew, who are simultaneously 
entertained by Spencer’s comebacks 
and shocked at the crack in his 
impermeable veneer. The comic 
relief briefly allowed to us during 
the awkwardly tense interaction 
serves as a reminder that the show 
— though it addresses serious topics 
in the football industry — shouldn’t 
be taken too seriously.

While head injuries and partying 

entire fortunes away are not joking 
matters, “Ballers” is able to address 
them with both poignant brevity 
and adjunct humor. Though, these 
qualities may go unnoticed among 
gratuitous 
scenes 
of 
snorting 

coke off strippers (scenes that 
were bizarrely absent from this 
premiere). In fact, the energy in the 
premiere was lacking so sorely that 
more strippers would have been 

welcome. Maybe if greater attention 
had been given to the supporting 
cast, including the comically brash 
Joe (Rob Corddry, “Children’s 
Hospital”) and the unassumingly 
sweet Charles (Omar Benson Miller, 
“CSI: Miami”), the episode would 
have succeeded in capturing our 
interest in the overall season.

The best the show could muster 

was more contract trouble for Ricky 
and Charles, a recycled conflict that 
was already overused in season one. 
What makes the show so great is 
how Spencer and Joe manage to pull 
through for untethered characters 
like Ricky and Charles, who are 
essentially lost without Spencer’s 
well-meaning, 
but 
floundering 

guidance.

As a start for what’s been hyped 

up to be an exciting season, the 
premiere is certainly a let down. 
But then again, “Ballers” is brought 
to us by the same creators as 
“Entourage,” and has shaped up 
to be the product of an identical 
formula (just sub out Hollywood 
for the NFL). Let’s just hope that the 
Andre-Spencer conflict pans out to 
be more promising than Ricky and 
Charles’ contracts.

C

Ballers

Season 2 
Premiere

Sundays at 10 p.m.

HBO

historic Wednesday through Satur-
day timeslot to a Thursday to Sun-
day one, anticipating the attendance 
of over 500,000 people over the four 
days.

“That’s a huge change, and it’s 

been a couple of years in the making. 
There were a lot of people involved, 
a lot of stakeholders involved in the 
decision,” she said.

Artists supported the shift and 

local businesses have jumped at the 
opportunity to benefit from Satur-
day night Art Fair patrons.

Riley highlighted aspects of the 

fair that create a singular artistic 
experience that’s constantly evolv-
ing and highly interactive.

“Every year the art is new. 

Whether it’s new artists or old 
favorites 
returning 
with 
new 

bodies of work, you’re never going 
to see the same thing from year 
to year and that’s what makes Art 
fairs exciting. If you have a favorite 
artist that you follow over the years, 
you get to watch the evolution of 
their style and technique and it 
becomes a friendship,” said Riley. 

Riley spoke about an Art piece at 

the fair that’s to take place in real 
time. “We do a large scale street 
painting, which this year is a chalk 
drawing in the style of the Ancient 
Italian Modenari and this year our 
artist is named Tess Tobolic and 

this year she is recreating Salvador 
Dali’s melting watch.”

“She’ll start creating the piece 

on Thursday and it will be done 
on Sunday and you can watch the 
progress as she creates it in chalk on 
the sidewalk on East Washington 
and Ingalls Mall,” Riley continued.

There will be a demonstration 

area on North University where 
attendants can watch artists and 
craftsman in action, taking a peek 
into an often-mysterious artistic 
process.

“It’s really a broad, broad range of 

styles and people and our visitorship 
really comes from all over the 
country, while a lot of it is from 
Michigan, 20% of our visitors come 
from out of state,” she said.

Above all else, Riley believes in 

the accessibility of the Art fair. “You 
take a thousand artists and put them 
in the streets of Ann Arbor. You find 
artwork to suit everyone’s taste and 
price point and then you add the 
unique ambiance of Ann Arbor into 
the mix and it’s just a fun time,” 
Riley said.

Ann 
Arbor 
will 
open 
its 

streets for the 57th time, letting 
local creative juices flow and 
undertaking festivities to honor the 
innovation and whimsical talent 
that brews below the surface of 
a quieter and more relaxed Ann 
Arbor populace.

From Page 1

