Monday: Midnight Run
Of all the actors that have starred opposite Robert De Niro—from Al Pacino to Phillip Seymour Hoffman—no one brought out the best in him the way Charles Grodin did in Midnight Run. Crazy, we know. But true! Spurred on by the neurotic Mr. Grodin, Mr. De Niro is at the top of his game, funny without being corny, self-deprecating without winking and, most important, committed to the material and not just going for a paycheck. [Encore Action, 9:45 a.m.]
Tuesday: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of French Elle, who after suffering a massive stroke has to live with "locked in syndrome," a rare disorder that leaves him completely paralyzed except for his left eye, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is simultaneously heartbreaking and life affirming while being totally sans shmaltz. Matthieu Amalric is a big reason why. As Jean-Do, he has nothing to work with but his left eye and a striking voice-over, and yet he gives a performance that would make even the greatest actors jealous. [Starz!, 6 a.m.]
Wednesday: Dirty Sexy Money
The second season of Dirty Sexy Money promises to be dirtier and sexier than last year, which is certainly a step in the right direction. Did Dirty Sexy Money mean to be a surrealist comedy like Arrested Development or did it want to be a glossy trash-fest like Dynasty? In trying to be both, the show in its first season didn’t succeed at being either. There should be a place in the market for show like Gossip Girl about adults. With better writing, that show could be Dirty Sexy Money. Maybe. [ABC, 10 p.m.]
Thursday: Miller’s Crossing
If Alfred Hitchcock thought actors were cattle, then the Coen brothers think characters are. That’s why we’re too often left feeling cold at the end of even their most entertaining films. But Miller’s Crossing is the exception. Their twisty Prohibition-era gangland menagerie is our favorite Coen bros movie, partially because it’s anchored by Gabriel Byrne’s totally human turn as a mob enforcer. Think Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men. Except here, Mr. Byrne stays alive the entire time. [IFC, 2:30 a.m.]
Friday: The Ex-List
On paper, The Ex-List sounds pretty endearing. A woman in her early 30s (Elizabeth Reaser) finds out from a psychic that she’s already met and dated her future husband, only if she doesn’t find him again within the next year, she’s doomed to be alone forever. (Cue ominous thunderclaps!) We can buy into that concept, but there are some concerns. … Executive producer Diane Ruggiero already quit because CBS wanted her to take the show in a different direction. Eek! That doesn’t sound promising. So catch The Ex-List now, because by the time November rolls around it could be a distant memory. [CBS, 9 p.m.]
