About as Stiff as a Tin Man

by MK

Watching the SciFi Channel's original mini-series Tin Man is an exercise in frustration. The potential is immense, but the delivery is about as hollow as its iconic namesake--and this time there's no oil can that will save the story from giant, rusty holes.

It's a little bit difficult to go into too much detail about this failed experiment without ruining some of the less-than-impactful reveals. There are some interesting story twists which could have been shocking and satisfying, but very little anticipation is built up for any of the unique plot details. However, the real shame of this contemporary chapter of the beloved fantasy story is the lack of mythology found in "the O.Z." And, yes, that is what the characters call the fantastic land beyond the tornado.

In the original 1939 masterpiece, few answers about the origin of OZ or its inhabitants are answered. The film was character-driven, and successfully navigated a completely original and fictional land created by author L. Frank Baum. However, Tin Man misses wonderful opportunities to fill in some of the powerfully intriguing holes left by the classic whimsical adventure. To be fair, anytime a completely new world such as OZ is born, the creative options are endless and difficult to tame. Yet, instead of working to focus these infinite possibilities, Tin Man writers Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle simply add to the questions with a new story, new characters and a completely new design concept. It takes an adept hand to guide an audience through a true fantasy experience and, sadly, the production team spent way too much time on making their brain child different from its predecessor, and not enough time delving into the relevance of its own roots.

In the end, lovely performances by Alan Cumming and Richard Dreyfuss cannot save the other actors from drowning in the wake of this unclear and meandering tale.