In The Penguin, Colin Farrell steps back into the fat suit and prosthetics of Oz Cobb, former driver, current club-owner, and aspiring mob boss. The show, which draws clear inspiration from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s classic Batman arc The Long Halloween, takes place immediately after the events of The Batman, and follows Cobb’s attempts to take over the Falcone crime family. His rivals for the throne are numerous, but none are as tricky as Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti, always great), better known as the Hangman, a serial killer who just returned from a stint in Arkham Asylum. The show is equally entertaining and rife with clichés, with much of the appeal stemming from its star’s gonzo, go-for-broke performance. Farrell being so compelling should not surprise us—in good movies and bad, he is often the best thing on screen—but that he is this good giving a performance this bizarre is truly a welcome surprise, the wildest transformation yet from an actor prone to self-reinventions.
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