很容易认为塞谬尔·杰克逊的家伙who acts in what seems like a dozen movies every year and really likes his Capital One credit card. Jackson has stacked millions, partly by hitching his wagon to the Marvel and “Star Wars” franchises. Cumulatively, his movies have grossed more than those of any other actor.
It’s just as easy to forget that he is one of the great American actors. Jackson should have won an Oscar for 1994’s “Pulp Fiction,” and he should have at least been nominated for his breakout performance in 1991’s “Jungle Fever.” He reminds audiences that he’s about more than just getting that money with “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” an overstuffed but affecting Apple TV+ limited series based on a novel by Walter Mosley (who, like Jackson, served as an executive producer).
An earthy meditation on aging, memory and redemption, “Ptolemy” gives Jackson his juiciest role in years, grounded in his trickster persona but expanding outward to a poignant consideration of mortality.
Ptolemy (silent “P,” played by Jackson) is an elderly Atlanta man in the late stages of dementia. His only sympathetic contact is his nephew, Reggie (Omar Benson Miller); the rest of his family is waiting for him to die and leave them his money. Then, two people enter his life. One is Robyn (Dominique Fishback, terrific), a teen family friend who actually wants to help. The other is a neurologist (Walton Goggins, playing it straight), who has come up with a very temporary cure for dementia where the patient remembers everything they’ve ever experienced. The big catch: When it wears off, the patient is worse off than ever.
The part gives Jackson the chance to display a remarkable range of emotion. The confusion of dementia often leaves Ptolemy terrified, as his past and present fold together and come apart again. As the drug takes effect, his swagger returns; you can see the sparkle in his eyes as he welcomes the world back in. In flashbacks, impressive de-aging effects show Jackson as a young man, such as when Ptolemy woos his future wife (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams). Overall, Jackson presents something very rare and difficult onscreen: a life in full.
There’s a lot going on in “Ptolemy Grey,” different time frames and mental states, and an abundance of secondary characters and motivations. Ptolemy has two murders haunting him — one from his childhood, one more recent — and a treasure of some sort that he seems to have misplaced in his apartment. Mosley adapted his own novel for the screenplay, and one might wonder if he could have slimmed the story down a bit, or if a couple more episodes would have provided room to roam.
But there’s more than enough here to recommend. The interplay between Jackson and Fishback is as natural as can be, yielding an unlikely companionship based in love and trust. On a broader scale, this is a fully fleshed-out portrait of Black Americans, from the horrors of Jim Crow to the proudly self-contained neighborhoods of contemporary Atlanta. Ptolemy’s friends and family, his allies and the vultures swirling around what might be his fortune, come to vivid life.
“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” runneth over with life. It’s easy to forgive it for being a bit much.
M“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey”:Limited series. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Omar Benson Miller, Damon Gupton and DeRon Horton. (TV-MA. Six episodes at approximately 60 minutes each). First two episodes premiere Friday, March 11, on Apple TV+. Subsequent episodes released Fridays through April 8.