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(CNN)Two years aft its abrupt cancellation without an existent ending, "Ray Donovan" gets the accidental to cleanable up different messiness with "Ray Donovan: The Movie," designed to supply the closure that longtime viewers lacked. There's immoderate of that, but dissimilar the show's notorious fixer, it's not arsenic neat a occupation arsenic it could person been successful presumption of tying up escaped ends.
Executive shaper David Hollander directed what amounts to this extra-long finale occurrence and co-wrote it with prima Liev Schreiber, who had promised fans immoderate benignant of payoff way backmost successful February 2020. Now that it's here, recognition Showtime with the customer-service savvy to supply some its endowment and the assemblage with a much satisfying conclusion, 1 that reaches into the past successful summation to advancing successful the present.
For those who (understandably) forgot, the seventh play ended with a shootout that near Mickey (Jon Voight), the family's amoral patriarch, connected the lam, and Smitty (Graham Rodgers), the hubby of Ray's girl Bridget (Kerris Dorsey), dead.
The movie picks up there, with Ray determined to settee aged scores, portion reminiscing via flashbacks astir his analyzable younker with Mickey, and not incidentally however Ray stumbled into his existent enactment of work.
At its halfway "Ray Donovan" ever dealt with symptom and loss, and here, whether they yet construe into revenge oregon forgiveness. Those themes turned Ray into 1 of the astir tortured characters successful this modern epoch of antiheroes, trying to look retired for his brothers (played by Eddie Marsan, Dash Mihok and Pooch Hall), who each transportation their ain dense baggage.
Indeed, the amusement was truthful consistently bleak the 1 infinitesimal that truly stands retired successful the movie involves the brothers drunkenly discussing their unusual upbringing portion laughing and dancing, a uncommon respite from the darkness. Similarly, the younger Ray is advised that nevertheless overmuch of a jerk his dada is, Mickey astatine slightest seems to emotion life, which isn't existent of his eldest son.
Television shows motion disconnected for each kinds of reasons, and historically it's not uncommon for programmers to permission viewers dangling. Having invested 7 years successful Ray's odyssey, asking for a genuine ending wasn't unreasonable.
If thing else, "Ray Donovan: The Movie" creates the abstraction for the producers to spell retired connected their terms, successful overmuch the mode Showtime did with "Dexter," much effectively, successful a limited-series format.
Ray often utilized a shot bat to lick problems. Although it's bully to spot the show's originative squad afforded 1 last swing, it's excessively atrocious they don't sound it retired of the park.
"Ray Donovan: The Movie" premieres Jan. 14 astatine 9 p.m. ET connected Showtime.
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