With “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” Rian Johnson (49) breathed life back into the old-fashioned crime thriller à la Agatha Christie. The films about the private detective Benoit Blanc, embodied by ex-007 Daniel Craig (55), became surprise hits in the cinema and on Netflix. Then Rian Johnson turned to the series. In January, “Poker Face”, Johnson’s homage to classic crime series such as “Columbo” or “Murder Is Her Hobby”, was launched in the USA.
Now “Poker Face” can also be seen in Germany. Since April 24, the thriller has been running with “Orange Is the New Black” star Natasha Lyonne (44) as a living lie detector on Sky Atlantic. Every Monday from 8:15 p.m. two of the ten episodes are shown there in double episodes. Two episodes are also available weekly on Sky Q and the in-house streaming service Wow.
Charlie Cale has an extraordinary gift. The waitress can spot when someone is lying. When her best friend is killed at the casino where she works, she uses her skills to solve the murder. She uncovers dark secrets and has to flee Nevada.
Charlie drives across the United States in her Plymouth Barracuda, always being chased by Cliff LeGrand, the casino’s head of security. At every stop, she encounters interesting people – and gets involved in criminal cases.
According to the creators, “Poker Face” is structured according to the case-of-the-week model. While there is an overarching storyline – Charlie’s escape from the casino boss – each episode deals with a closed case.
Similar to “Columbo”, the culprit is identified early on in each episode. It’s not about “Who did it?”, it’s about “How does she find out about him?”. Rian Johnson already worked with this strategy in “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion”, even if he varied it in an original way. Information is revealed early on without revealing the full picture.
Johnson met Lyonne at a party. A stroke of luck for the director and author. He was blown away by Lyonne’s performance in the time warp comedy Matryoshka. And he was aware that for a series in the style of “Columbo” and Co. you need a charismatic main character.
In addition to Lyonne, a well-known cast plays in “Poker Face”. Oscar winner Adrian Brody (“The Pianist”, 50) plays the boss of the casino where Charlie works, Benjamin Bratt (59) his head of security.
The individual episodes are also heavily occupied. Veterans like Nick Nolte (82), Ron Perlman (73) and Ellen Barkin (69) are guests, as well as calibers like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (42) and young stars like Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”, 32) .
