AMERICAN SPORTS STORY: SEASON ONE - AARON HERNANDEZ
Starring: Josh Rivera, Jaylen Barron, Lindsay Mendez, Ean Castellanos, and Tammy Blanchard
Creator: Stuart Zicherman
PAIGE
Although some of the plot points depicted in the show feel a bit fabricated and over the top, I, as a Patriots fan and Massachusetts resident, remember watching this all unfold in real time. I must say, the overall approach of the story delivers interesting nuance to the bigger picture of what was possibly happening behind the scenes in Aaron Hernandez's (Josh Rivera) life. It’s a fascinating and gripping show that does an admirable job of examining Hernandez as a man fighting his innermost personal demons. Plus, Rivera blew me away with his portrayal of the famous tight end.
QUENTIN
As a fan of the Patriots and football-themed stories, American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez kept me compelled and engaged even though I had already seen Netflix’s documentary Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. That said, it’s not without some flaws that could ruin it for those without my biases. Josh Rivera is great as Hernandez, aptly conveying the double life and inner conflict that troubled Hernandez, but bit supporting players who play the likes of Tim Tebow, Rob Gronkowski, and Urban Meyer are laughably ridiculous, as are the cheap-looking in-game sequences. Still, if you can look past that, it’s worth a watch.
