The Riches

I suppose some of it is funny, as in a Kafka/Beckett/Pinter soft-shoe shuffle of grotesques. Still, what’s so far much more mesmerizing about The Riches is class war and caste hate.

My guess is that lots of people are going to rave about how deliciously dark and weird this drama is, but before you believe them, take a minute and imagine Minnie Driver with a fake Southern accent. Now imagine Eddie Izzard with an American accent that's so bad, it makes his voice sound almost computerized. Next, throw in some demonic rednecks straight out of "Deliverance." Are you getting hot yet?

"The Riches" is both unique and intoxicating -- and plenty more.

[It] vacillates between riveting and middling.

The Riches is hard to believe and not much easier to embrace.

Think Big Love-meets-Carnivale and you're in the ballpark, but The Riches boasts its own weird, violent, druggy, hilarious mix. [16 Mar 2007, p.63]

Although not the mess that "Dirt" is, the series is conceptually problematic, and seemingly ill-equipped to go the episodic distance.

The show's first three episodes don't always land their punches. But "The Riches" takes daring swings. And the acting, especially in Monday's debut, is as good as it gets on TV.

"The Riches" reminds me a bit of "Big Love" the first time I saw it. I wasn’t sure whether to like these people or despise them, whether I bought the premise or not. And yet, at the end of the hour, I wanted to see more.

Monday's opening hour is a bit disjointed stylistically. But the individual pieces are so compelling that you're still going to be sucked into the saga. And the show gets far more consistent in future episodes.

The dangers for the mostly engrossing “Riches” is that it occasionally hits the “we’re stealing the American Dream” theme a little too hard, and it remains to be seen whether it will coast on the taut, engaging performances of Izzard and Driver.

Laced with profanity, amoral behavior and fine performances, "The Riches" adheres to its own maverick set of family drama values ... infused with secrets and lies, twisted laughs and lots of love.

There are more than a few problems here.

Funny and intriguing.

Despite two fine leading performances by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver and a premise that's not like anything else on television, there's something missing in the execution.

The best new TV show of the 2006-07 season.

"The Riches" certainly has some rich elements -- there's even a little dark humor, just not enough of it -- but in early episodes, the show remains wobbly as it tries to find its footing.

It’s so compelling it deserves to be a hit.

The Riches most often treats this family and their mad attempt to steal a new identity with a delightfully light comic touch bolstered by an underpinning of yearning.... The show stumbles whenever it tries to become dark or serious.

Viewers who can get past the uncertain dialects and a few cartoonish supporting characters are in for a real treat.

Izzard is a great surprise in FX's "The Riches," and just one of this fascinating new series' unexpectedly soulful pleasures.

Izzard and Driver are so good that you may be able to overlook a lot - like a plot to believe in.

The Riches has the makings of a bracing, provocative series.

It's far-fetched. It's outlandish. You will think you are too smart to get suckered in by it, but give it a few minutes and you will be proved wrong.

There's greatness begging to be grasped here, and nobody has a handle on it.

[Driver's] tone gets under the skin. As does the show. [19 Mar 2007, p.39]

Lipkin demonstrates a keen eye for nuances of class and social structure and a unique perspective on how to attain the American dream.

While the ideas behind “The Riches” are often satisfyingly satirical, Izzard’s role—he plays Wayne Malloy, a husband and a father of three, eager to escape the marginal life that he and his family have been living—is stagy and overblown.