Florida Man review: Promising mystery-thriller is scattered and inconsistent

In Florida Man, Mike Valentine plans to run away with his boss’ girlfriend after unearthing gold that is hidden in Florida. The series is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

Mike Valentine, an ex-gambling addict, is paying off all of his debts by working for Moss Yankov, the gangster he owes. Mike carries out various jobs for Moss and also keeps an eye on his girlfriend, Delly, from time to time.

Moss doesn’t know that Mike has been sleeping with Delly behind his back. When Moss gifts Delly a stolen necklace, she leaves the date midway and runs off. As usual, Mike is told to make sure that she reaches home.

Delly pitches Mike to run away with her to Florida, but he declines the moment he hears the name of that state as he has a dark past associated with it.

Delly steals one of Moss’ cars and runs off anyway, and Mike is left with no option but to follow her. He first finds her faking her death and soon learns her true intentions for coming here, which involve gold buried deep in the state somewhere.

Performances

Édgar Ramírez as Mike Valentine and Abbey Lee as Delly West deliver sincere performances in their respective roles. Ramírez comes across as a responsible person who really wants to get over his gambling habits.

During one of the flashback scenes, Mike’s gambling habit is portrayed, and this version of Mike looks different than the current one, thanks to Ramírez’s performance.

Abbey Lee, on the other hand, looks adorable and smart at the same time in the role of Delly. Though her character claims towards the end that she doesn’t want to wait around for anyone, Lee plays the character in a way that it feels like she was always on her own.

Lee and Ramírez offer great performances by themselves but struggle to form the interesting chemistry their characters must have had. There is hardly any spark between them, which would have made them a strong power couple.

Talking about chemistry, Édgar Ramírez certainly shares it with Anthony LaPaglia, who plays Mike’s father, Sonny Valentine. The animosity between them is felt right from their first interaction, and they lose it only during some heartfelt scenes as required by the script.

Most of the supporting cast serves as comic relief, including Emory Cohen as Moss Yankov and especially Clark Gregg as Deputy Sheriff Ketcher. Gregg’s part is more or less like filler that doesn’t have much to do with Mike’s story, but his scenes are way too hilarious compared to the ones taking place in the main plot.

Positives

Florida Man has an intriguing plot that promises adventure right from the moment ‘gold’ is mentioned. The locations, the sets, and the colors used to set the tone of the series give the viewers a feeling of a treasure hunt.

The show also captures the essence of the state of Florida well, with its beautiful beaches, alligators, and ridiculous news stories for which the original meme went viral.

The most thrilling parts are the heists. The very first attempt, though the viewers know it will fail, offers an edge-of-the-seat build-up that will leave you wanting more.

Toward the finale, it carefully lays out the details that will contribute to its ending, which is definitely not predictable at all. The last two episodes keep you questioning everything, from what the gold will look like to where the characters will end up.

Negatives

Florida Man is filled with numerous sub-plots that don’t work out in the end. Moss’ hard drive, the journalist looking for Mike, and Andy’s arc are some of the storylines scattered across the show that can easily be ignored because they are neither important nor entertaining.

The show sets a steady pace in the beginning that is decent enough. It’s from the second or third episode that the show starts taking too much time to deliver one small development, killing its own momentum in the process.

There is also some inconsistency with the pacing. Mike and his friends’ first attempt to retrieve gold is where the show picks up the pace and its thrill again. Somehow, once that part is done, it again falls back to its sloppy pace and stays like that until the finale.

Verdict

Florida Man brings an alluring and adventurous plot that would have worked well if this was a movie. The fillers that are scattered across the show and the inconsistent pace make it a long, hard watch.

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Also Read: Florida Man summary and ending explained