Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best
4. Angels In America
Nowadays, of course, it’s all the rage for major big screen stars to make the jump to TV, where the characters are more interesting and the adulation free flowing. Back in 2003, though, it wasn’t quite so common, which makes Angels In America’s nabbing of Al Pacino and Meryl Streep all the more impressive.
This was no ordinary TV show, mind. Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play and directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate), this was a classy affair, a timely tale of the AIDS epidemic which mixed political commentary with metaphorical, quasi-religious supernatural moments.
Everyone involved in this piece is extraordinary. The showiest role, unsurprisingly, goes to Al Pacino as real life Republican fixer and closeted gay man Roy Cohn. Patrick Wilson is great as the similarly closeted Joe Pitt, and Mary Louise Parker simply heartbreaking as his depressed, addled wife Harper.
It’s heavy stuff that doesn’t compromise one bit, with Nichols getting his teeth into the political, allegorical, and fantastical all at once. Showy, star studded, performative stuff, a must see.