The Bannen Way Excitement

The highly anticipated and much publicized Bannen Way made its official debut this week on Crackle. So far, the series looks really good. Everything seems to be in frame, in fact I did not see one blurry shot. Also, the dialog is easily understood… I bet they used really good microphones, probably even professional ones. Oh, I heard they had really good craft service on set… I’m just guessing, but there probably was an assortment of cheeses and those little mini hotdogs… people seem to like little mini hotdogs.

Okay, I need to be honest, so much has been written about this series and for so long, that coming up with something new to say, is nigh on impossible. Also, to be frank, I am a little burned out on all the hype. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m sure the show will do well and it is entertaining – nice cars, beautiful women, a likable rouge –; however, I just cannot get excited about the series. I want to be excited about the series, I even wanted to write an article about it to help get other people excited. (This would be said article, how am I doing so far?) Nevertheless, as has become readily apparent, I have had a great deal of difficulty finding the right spin.

The series stars Mark Gantt, as Neal Bannen, a slick thief/conman trying to walk a slightly straighter path, pulled between his police detective father, his crime boss uncle, the loan shark he owes money, and his own baser instincts. He drives a nice car, wears a fancy suit, and has absolutely no trouble getting random women to have sex with him even when he’s pretending to be a sixty-year old accountant. To be fair, watching Bannen skate through life, is good escapist fun; however, there is little about him that I relate to. Perhaps, I simply am too old, after all, I can’t help but think that instead of blowing his money at a poker game, he should have invested his winnings in the California foreclosure market and a nice stable mutual fund.

When all is said and done, The Bannen Way will be a revolutionary web series. Hopefully, this will become one of a string of big-budget, studio-financed web series released in the coming years. If the major studios take an active interest in ‘the space,’ other independent producers like Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren will have the opportunity to realize their dreams of creating large scale web series, which is something to get excited about.

Check out The Bannen Way exclusively on Crackle.