FX’s Adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ ‘The Shards’ Can’t Be Saved by a Strong Lead Performance: TV Review
In some ways, an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel “The Shards” has had some of the heavy lifting done for it. Ellis’ cooly detached prose style embodies the shameless materialism of its Reagan era setting with an obsessive catalog of proper nouns: what kind of cars its c
The FX adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel "The Shards" has stumbled, despite a strong lead performance. This comes as a disappointment, given the source material's built-in advantages. Ellis' distinctive prose style, which meticulously catalogues the excesses of 1980s Los Angeles, provides a rich backdrop for a TV series.
However, the show's inability to translate this into compelling television is a concern. The era's materialism and superficiality, which Ellis critiques through his writing, seem to have similarly afflicted the show's production. With prestige TV being more competitive than ever, especially with platforms like FX, HBO, and Netflix vying for attention, "The Shards" needed to bring something unique to the table to stand out.
What's next to watch is whether FX will take another stab at adapting complex literary works or if they'll pivot towards different genres. The appetite for adaptations remains strong, but with so many misses, networks are becoming increasingly selective. Keep an eye on how FX navigates this, especially given their past successes with edgy content.
Originally reported by variety.com. SerbianNews adds analysis for culture, style & media readers.