Television Pick: The Spoils Of Babylon (2014)
From the 1970s until around the start of the 2000s, the epic miniseries was one of the more popular formats of programming on North American television. Whether it be the historical drama Roots or the more outlandish The Thorn Birds, the genre had a little something for everyone. Although recent cable programs such as The Bible and Hatfields and McCoys have brought the format back somewhat, big miniseries’ remain something of an anomaly in this day and age. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop IFC spoofing the genre with The Spoils of Babylon.
Presented as though it was actually a “real” miniseries, The Spoils of Babylon is an epic tale of love and oil courtesy of famous author Eric Jonrosh (Will Ferrell). A fat drunk of the Orson Welles-variety, Jonrosh starts and ends each installment discussing the production of the series and filling us in on how long it took to film and how much was left on the cutting room floor. Whether he is explaining how the series was originally 22 hours long or all of the behind the scenes chaos, Jonrosh’s ramblings are arguably the highlight of each episode
Jonrosh’s The Spoils of Babylon book follows the Morehouse clan, as they went from poor Texas oil miners to an affluent family. Head of the family Jonas (Tim Robbins) tries to keep his namesake from destruction, but the passionate romance between daughter Cynthia (Kristen Wiig) and adopted son Devon (Tobey Maguire) threatens to ruin everything they’ve built. The agony of forbidden love proves to be a powerful force, which soon wreaks havoc on everyone in Cynthia and Devon’s lives.
If this sounds over the top and silly, that’s kind of the point, as this was the type of schlocky storytelling that was taken at face value back in the glory days of the miniseries. Even my plot description doesn’t do justice to just how silly things get, particularly when the likes of Cynthia’s evil son Winston (Haley Joel Osment) or Devon’s wife Lady Anne York (Carey Mulligan) show up.
Even with a star-studded cast that also includes Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer, and more, The Spoils of Babylon can be a bit of a hard sell. It’s silly, but unless you have some familiarity with over the top dramatic shows and films, the humor may be lost on you. However, for those who are into that type of comedy, or perhaps just want to see some talented actors goof off, I highly recommend checking out Eric Jonrosh’s acclaimed miniseries.
