Kate Leaver
TonyKJames Spader is God. Boston Legal.
December 23rd 2008 23:59
Boston Legal is the quickest, slickest show I've seen. And James Spader is a God.
Spader's character Alan Shore - defence lawyer, chick magnet - rides the show's plot like he would one of his emotionally ambiguous love interests. The cool intellect and raw dignity are his sexiest assets, and that's what I like about this character. As a still image, Spader is nothing special to look at but once he's in action, I defy any woman to resist him.
His lusty sense of justice grows throughout the series and ultimately works to balance out the bizarre and sometimes disorientating quirkiness of the show. The way he manages Denny Crane's (William Shatner) wonderfully uncouth, recklessly salacious antics does wonders for the humanity of the show. The friendship between the two men, ingulged in over cigars at the close of each episode, is so honest as to be painful to watch sometimes. Alan often placates Denny like a disruptive toddler with a perverse sexuality and awkward concept of human interaction.
Alan Shore actually does assume a God-like role in the show, bringing an omnipotent goodness and reason to court case and friendship crisis alike. He is entirely fallible though; he gets night tremors and episodes of 'word salad' when a particularly beautiful, long-necked colleague causes him to say 'breakdance' or 'coleslaw' instead of what he means. He seduces - or is he seduced by - a sexy judge who not only wants to have him on the floor in her chambers but wants to have his babies. He resists monogamy and intimacy at every turn, which makes him more endearing than abhorrent and only makes female viewers swoon all the more (and any male viewers who would admit to having a man crush).
James Spader's Alan Shore is reason enough to watch Boston Legal. It is a sensitive, clever performance quite unlike any other. He is one of the few surviving regulars in a cast that is shuffled and rearranged as often as the choppy camera angles. Each season characters are purged in favour of fresh faces but Alan Shore is not disposable; he is what holds together the fragmented, obscure and fabulously original narrative of the show.
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