Black Bird (miniseries)

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Paul Walter Hauser and Taron Egerton in Black Bird

I'm not a fan of Taron Egerton. I imagine him to be an insufferable narcissist like his most recent role in the HBO Max series, Smoke. That's unfair of me. I don't know the man. Whatever.

But his role in Black Bird (Apple TV+) as James "Jimmy" Keene required him to take a back seat to the brilliance of Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall, a convicted killer and suspected serial killer. Egerton's charm and handsomeness are present, as always, but Black Bird demands he acknowledge it and the deficiencies inherent in it: people don't trust that level of good looks and charm.

And in order for Keene to have his multi-year drug sentence commuted, he must gain the trust of Hall. Egerton plays Keene with self-awareness and vulnerability. Hauser's portrayal of Hall is maddening. Insane or not, Hall believes he's smarter than Keene, a level of narcissism that only another narcissist could recognize.

Dennis Lehane based Black Bird on the real James Keene's 2010 autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer. The series premiered in 2022 to critical acclaim and costars the late Ray Liotta in his last role as Keene's father.

Cast (Main)

Taron Egerton - James "Jimmy" Keene

Paul Walter Hauser - Larry Hall

Sepideh Moafi - Lauren McCauley

Greg Kinnear - Brian Miller

Ray Liotta - James "Big Jim" Keene

Cast (Recurring)

Robyn Malcolm - Sammy Keene

Jake McLaughlin - Gary Hall

Robert Wisdom - Edmund Beaumont

Cullen Moss - Russ Aborn

Tony Amendola - Vincent "The Chin"

Melanie Nicholls-King - Dr. Amelia Hackett

Christopher B. Duncan - Dr. Aaron Zicherman

Joe Williamson - CO Carter

Laney Stiebing - Jessica Roach

Cecilia Leal - Rochelle

Cade Tropeano - young Larry Hall

Blue Clarke - young Jimmy Keene

Kwajalyn Brown - Judge Diane Wood

Production

Developed by Dennis Lehane

Music by Mogwai

Executive producers

Taron Egerton

Jimmy Keene

Michaël R. Roskam

Dan Friedkin

Ryan Friedkin

Kary Antholis

Scott Lambert

Alexandra Milchan

Bradley Thomas

Richard Plepler

Dennis Lehane

Cinematography - Natalie Kingston

Editors

Rob Bonz

Jonathan Alberts