User reviews

Don't get me wrong but these crime shows are totally dependent on how good the criminal is portrayed and Paul Walter played the role to perfection showing all the sides of Larry Hall. Taron was also really good but his breakthrough didn't come till the final episode which in hindsight was the most imp one. The conversations between Larry and Jimmy in the show are really fascinating and honestly you can try but you won't be able to take your eyes off. How every conversation brings you one step closer to figuring out the puzzle of Larry Hall is a binge worthy experience. With shows like this and Severance Apple TV is definitely bringing it's A game 🎯.

Not since True Detective's first season has a crime drama been so compelling, so intriguing and gripping! In just the first three episodes, it's far exceeded my own expectations. All, and I mean every actor steps up 100% in their roles here which is rare, and lastly but not least, Ray Liotta contributes an excellent contribution to the overall consistent acting throughout the entire casting performances. I'm glad to see his (Ray Liotta's) final role be of a such a fine caliber of a series!

Black Bird is every bit as good as everyone says it is. After reading all the great reviews (it currently has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes) so I went into this with pretty high expectations, well this series not only met those expectations but surpassed them in every way. While there are plenty of great performances here (Ray Liotta, Greg Kinnear, Sepideh Moafi) the two stand outs everyone is talking about is Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser. Both give award worthy performances. In Hauser's case he actually win a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. There are so many shoes on true crime that have come out lately but Black Bird is among the best of them and should be a must watch for any fan of the genre.

This is not Black Bird. It is Paul Walter Hauser's show. Again.

First, I discovered Paul in Frank's Grillo's Kingdom series. He is terrific there. One of my favorite characters. A masterfully acting class. Probably the best performer there with Jay Kulina.

Second, even Black Bird's story is interesting, what makes it over the average, is Paul's performance. Don't get me wrong, Taron is great too, but not as credible and solid as Paul.

Last, the series had potential to become a cult classic, but at the end, it makes you feel like something is missing. Overall is pretty great but not superb as it could have been.

I loved the trailers and my mom recommend which is fair since we tend to enjoy crime/dramas this is a phenomenal one! Black Bird keeps you intrigued from beginning to end of each episode. It's well filmed, exceptional cast, awesome music, and the story hits the spot all around. Paul Walter Hauser is great in any role I love how he's considered a sick puppy in this! I can't believe there's only 6 episodes I love everything about it.

Mini Series Magic

Is it just me or is the mini-series becoming one of the more popular "styles" of TV entertainment? I can't remember watching a single mini series more than 3 years ago - now I'm keeping a sharp eye out for them since the likes of "Chernobyl" "Mare of Eastown" and "Black Bird" have all blown my socks off.

Taron Egerton is the shining star of his generation, truly a man of many talents. I've followed him since his breakaway role in Kingsmen and have enjoyed every single project I've seen him in sense. "Black Bird" was the first serious role I've seen Egerton in, and he proved that he can deliver across the TV medium, for multiple episodes, hooking the audience in on a character that he really made his own.

The story of Larry Hall is terrifying, a monster in our society that was caged and almost let go again. I was hooked from the first episode to the last, and by the end was wishing the series wasn't so "mini."

Wow! This true crime show was truly a great watch! Each one of the episodes keeps your interest triggered. As a big fan of the Netflix show "Mindhunter", I see some parallels with Black Bird. The FBI, profiling, serial killer and prison environment are all present in both shows. So if you are a fan of Mindhunter, than I think you may also like Black Bird.

Especially the complex and unfortunately very sick and evil character of Hall has been more than excellently portrayed by the actor. I would not be surprised if that actor will be nominated for some important movie awards. It really was that good.

This is an intelligent and interesting story that is added to by the fact that it's based on real events.

The lead cast is excellent, but Paul Walter Hauser's portrayal of Larry is absolutely stunning. His mannerisms, voice and dialogue are truly amazing. I don't think I have seen many actors emitting so much evil in a performance.

It's a big thumbs up from me.

I watched the series after looking at the reviews hereto be honest it is not as expected, but good overall. All episodes together is approximately 6 hours so if you have a free day you could finish this. Acting wise and making wise the series is A plus. But there is not a surprise factor or something and like in some reviews its not that horrifying only it is conveyed to us verbally and is left to our imagination.

Taron and Paul did an excellent job acting wise and the series is mainly concentrated on the development of each character. I think as this is inspired from real life incidents it lacks some dramatic moments and they didn't show how he does his crimes other than Paul saying what he did. Also one more problem I had was that by the end of series Taron does something but it leads to nowhere and nothing happens on behalf of that like it was not necessary for him to go through all that.

But all together it is a watchable entertaining mini series.

I enjoyed this id say could have been done in 4 episodes without missing anything, acting especially by the killer Larry was fantastic but the writing was a little bit stretched and required some level of denial, just too many times situations didnt seem likely. The guards, doctors,F. B. I agents all were out of what line to how they would have acted. Still its a 7 and good.

Fantastic acting by the two principal characters, particularly Paul Walter Hauser, who convincingly plays a psychopathic serial killer. That said, this could have been an excellent 90 or 120 minute film (instead of a fairly good 6-part mini-series) by removing the extortion sub-plot with a corrupt prison guard and a budding relationship with a revered mafia boss, neither of which is resolved by the end of the series and neither of which have any bearing on its conclusion.

Paul Walter Hauser deserves an award (or multiple) for his performance as Larry in Black Bird. He's compelling and genuine, and manages to force you to develop some sympathy for him, despite his heinous crimes. I've only seen Taron Egerton in the Kingsmen franchise, but his performance is far superior in Black Bird. I wasn't sure what to expect out of him in this serious role, but he is excellent.

Who is Paul Walter Hauser that I haven't heard of until this series?! Why haven't we heard anything about this formidable actor totally getting mixed up with psycho Larry?! It's extremely hard to decide what I like best about this series?! A "dark" series and even more so because I also see the last role of the late Ray Liotta. Since the first "True Detective" series, I haven't seen a series that deals so well with a very controversial subject anyway. Biopics about Ted Bundy, Ed Gein or Dahmer have been attempted, but this is by far the most complex. The ending of episode five is absolutely incredible and leaves a lot of questions open.

First thing that comes to mind is mayor of Kingstown because that's the most recent prison drama I've watched; and while that was fast paced in comparison to black bird, this is just as, if not more thrilling and has it's main focus on one story. There's a lot of suspense so far and of course "based on a true story" always adds a little more zest to it. For the same reason, some scenes are difficult to watch especially throughout episode 5 because you know this actually happened. The acting is great throughout, even though from the few shows I've seen Taron Egerton in he takes similar roles but he's really good at them and I think this is one of his better ones yet; Paul Walter Hauser is incredible as well as he makes you believe everything that's said about his character's personality even though each story contradicts whether he's a serial killer or serial confessor. After Jimmy lands at maximum security almost every scene is tense and gripping so you never lose focus and I really love it when shows consume you as you watch, the only thing you think about while watching Black bird is Black bird. Looking forward to the mystery unravel. Didn't give it a full ten rating but there's nothing I can fault it for.

Looking for something to binge watch, I came across this on Apple TV and it sounded intriguing but omg... I wasn't sure if I'd seen Taron Egerton in anything before this but I couldn't take my eyes off him. So handsome and so convincing as a smug and cocky Jimmy who comes down to earth by the end of the film. Ray Liotta, in a heartfelt performance, was excellent as his father.

But the real reason to watch is Paul Walter Hauser as the suspected serial killer. I alternated between feeling bad for him and despising him. He was mesmerizing.

I was hooked before the first episode ended. Well done.

The reason why I gave this show a shot was because of Ray Liotta, Taron Egerton, and Greg Kinnear. I always liked their movies. Their acting was superb, as well as everybody else in this project. The pace, camera work, and symbolism really stood out as well. You can also argue on how this a great cautionary tale for our society in regards to mental health, sexual education, and how important a loving family is to a child.

The "true crime genre" itself is not something I like to watch as it's very disturbing to me, but I stuck it out as you become heavily invested in Jimmy's and the detectives struggle to lock up Hall for good. I highly recommend this even if it's hard to watch at times.

Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser gave the performance of a lifetime in every scene they were in, I love both of the main actors in this show for very different reasons and I really applaud Paul Walter Hauser for taking and completely nailing a role so outside of his comfort zone (he plays Jimmy Tacos competition in "I think you should leave" and it's awesome) but the writing really failed everyone involved in this show by like a lot... The only reason this show is so compelling is because of the performances.

There's a lot of tension building that leads to nothing, this happens again and again, you can pretty much guess everything that will happen next if you reduce every interaction to the lowest common denominator, it makes for a really lacklustre, boring series, but again Taron, Paul and Greg made it a very watchable series because they acted their tushies off.

Apple TV is not messing around. This show hits you in the face (and heart) and doesn't apologize for it, yet you'll love every second of it. It's simple but it's done right. No flashy or fancy effects here. Just a true (and horrific) story that's told really well, actors who know how to act, and a crew that know what they're doing.

This mini series will stay with you long after you're finished watching it. The story will haunt you and you will find yourself thinking about it a lot for a few days. You don't just watch something like this and then go back to living your life. The fact that this actually happened is the only bad thing I can say about this series.

Taron Egerton is simply unmatched in this and Paul Hauser is going to blow your mind. You haven't seen anything like this before. Enjoy!

Netflix, watch and learn! This is how it's done!

Overall it held my interest enough to see it through, but barely.

It was a show with so many ideas, and it grabbed at all of them and didn't really get any of them. Flashback show? Daddy drama? Prison-life commentary? Bribery story - soon forgot. Mistaken identity? For about 10 minutes. A whodunnit? Yes all of the above.

Probably its biggest crime was the trite wrap up. It was a show desperately trying to convince you it was mysterious and unpredictable, but you kind of ended up where you knew where you'd end up. And in a hurried and trite wrap up a show that went from "based upon a true story" (which is code for: loosely inspired and barely recognisable) to oh yes honestly this was allll true.

And they all lived happily ever after? Well, one of the criminals at least?

Another overrated crime story with gushing reviews plastered all over imdb. I don't know if it's that modern audiences have grown up on lesser quality, or their standards are lower, or they are blinded by flash production values and good looking actors. It's not that this show is necessarily bad, it just isn't very good, it's a mish mash of everything you already saw, with a script full of hammy cliched dialogue and on the nose acting. The lead character has no redeeming qualities, hell if he were at least well drawn and complex we might be able to give him a pass, but there's nothing there to work with, just a wooden attitude with poorly written dialogue. Quite honestly I am going to resign my subscriptions from streaming services. Is this the best we can expect? Hyped up, all style and no substance, weakly developed nonsense with unconvincing main characters. Thanks but no thanks.

All around phenomenal. Acting, pacing, direction are all on point. Even though Jimmy and Larry haven't had any scenes together yet, the suspense of what's to come is already there.

Paul Walter Hauser really is a phenomenal actor. This might be Taron Egerton's best role yet outside of Rocketman.

I had never heard of these events so I went into it completely in the dark and absolutely loved the first two episodes.

Looking forward to the rest of the series for sure.

Only 2 episodes in and I'm so hooked. The 2 lead male actors are enough to carry you through even if you hate everything else about it. The story feels like a prison drama done right. It ain't a new narrative, but the acting + good writing makes it work. Give it a go.

The storyline and acting are top notch. Paul Hauser who plays Larry Hall is outstanding. After watching him immersed in this role I couldn't picture anyone else playing that character. After only a couple episodes in I'm hooked.

Everyone already talked about how wonderfully made the film is. What I find mostly intriguing is Larry's complex character played by the genius Hauser. A chilling, terrifying villain that you somehow sympathize with at times. The brilliance of creating a character of opposites, violent and vulnerable sides.. which is very real and close to human nature..

Egerton is amazing as well with his effortless and strong acting.

The story keeps you wondering what would you do or choose to do if you were in his position.