While he's technically old enough to portray 37-year-old Jake, Franco certainly doesn't read as anywhere close to 37, or the world-weariness Jake's supposed to exhibit. He's on good terms with his exes, but they're his exes for a reason.įranco, whose offscreen exploits have tended to get more headlines than his performances, is occasionally distracting in the role. He probably read a Salinger story that blew his mind once, and he's been trying to recapture that moment ever since. He's concerned about the Greater Good and likes the idea that he, of all people, might be the person to save the day. He's good-looking but doesn't flaunt it, since he's too busy frowning in a contemplative way. James Franco is just fine, but he can't make Jake less confusing as a heroĮven if you haven't read the book 11.22.63 is based on (and I haven't), you can tell what kind of hero Jake's supposed to be. Everything presented has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. But at the end of the day, this is historical fan fiction. King did his research, so all eight episodes of 11.22.63 - now available on Hulu - are bursting with fun facts and figures. He even finds himself a peachy keen 1963 fiancée in Sadie ( Sarah Gadon, who finds vulnerable humanity even in her character's thinnest moments), because what fun is time travel if you can't complicate everything with inconvenient love? He stakes out Lee Harvey Oswald (a quietly disconcerting Daniel Webber) to make sure the assassin was working alone - the better to justify killing him. Once Jake falls through the "rabbit hole" - the time portal lurking in the back of Al's diner - he falls deeper and deeper into webs of conspiracy and the stalwart belief that he has a capital M Mission. Anyway, the recently divorced Jake doesn't have much going on right now anyway, so what the hell. Why, you might ask? Well, his friend Al (a wild-eyed Chris Cooper) seems to think that would reverse just about everything bad that's happened since - like the Vietnam War, and maybe racism(?). Abrams as a producer - throws English teacher everyman Jake Epping (James Franco) headlong into the 1960s, so he can stop the assassination of JFK. Hulu's miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's novel - featuring former Friday Night Lights producer Bridget Carpenter as its showrunner and Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. But it's also easy enough to leave behind once you have to get back to the real world.
It moves at a steady clip, is stuffed with cheese, and remains compelling enough to fill an afternoon.
11.22.63, Hulu's new drama, is the TV equivalent of picking up a book at the airport.
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