'Florida Man' Review: Edgar Ramirez SHINES in Netflix's weirdly entertaining series
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Memes have become a mode of entertainment in today’s world, but no one thought in a million years that Netflix would have come out with a series based on a viral meme series. Titled ‘Florida Man’, the latest series by the streaming platform is based on the viral ‘Florida Man’ memes that took the world by storm in 2013. The memes started circulating on social media after several news headlines starting with ‘Florida Man’ began to pop up on primetime news. These headlines mainly focused on Florida men doing weird criminal activities in the state of Florida. The streamer did take inspiration from the memes, but it is much more than just news headlines talking about criminal activities.
‘Florida Man’ chronicles the journey of an ex-cop named Mike Valentine (Edgar Ramirez) who has been working for a Philly mobster because he owes him a lot of money. The mobster’s life turns upside-down when his girlfriend, Delly West (Abbey Lee), runs away in her new BMW. He finds out that his girlfriend is in Florida and tells Mike to return to his home state of Florida to find his girlfriend. Mike says if he does that, he wants to walk away from all of this and wants his freedom. Moss agrees to do that as Mike takes a flight to get to Florida. He believed it would be an easy task, but things go downhill when people start talking about a treasure that only Mike knows about. Mike believes that the treasure might change everything and he could walk away freely. The series primarily focuses on the aforementioned storyline and takes viewers on an enthralling journey that’s filled with humor, suspense, and a lot of twists and turns.
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Ramirez plays the lead role of Mike Valentine in this series and from the very first frame, we get to know that he is going to carry the entire series on his shoulders and he does that with flying colors. He is charming and tackles every chaotic moment effortlessly. He is one of the most underrated actors who never got his due in Hollywood, but this role puts him back in the league of actors that can take a project to the finishing line with all his capabilities. His chemistry with his on-screen father, Anthony LaPaglia, is a treat to watch. Particularly, the scene where they both tell the viewers about the true nature of their relationship will literally encourage you to applaud them.
On the other hand, Emory Cohen’s portrayal of Moss is brilliant as well. He is living in the shadow of his father and no one takes him seriously his performance gives viewers an idea about Moss’ insecurities and wants everyone to take him seriously. Meanwhile, Abbey Lee as Delly West is also really amazing. However, the biggest problem with these two characters is that they fizzle out when the series progresses and reaches the fourth or fifth episode. You start wondering what are they doing and why should we care about them. It’s not the actors’ fault, it’s the writing that lets them down.
But one actor that will completely blow your mind is Clark Gregg because of how brilliantly the character is written. Gregg plays the role of Deputy Sheriff Ketcher in the series. Gregg's character is a gun-loving person who is on a vacation with his family and gets in the middle of a series of unfortunate events after his gun gets lost when he reaches Florida. His character is certainly one of the most interesting characters in the series and viewers would definitely love Gregg’s portrayal.
The series does good work in keeping the viewers hooked to their screens, but it’s the last two episodes that take ‘Florida Man’ to a whole new level. Still, it doesn’t manage to become something electrifying because of how things go about in the middle part of the series. To be honest, this series could have worked brilliantly if there were just four or five episodes or makers would have made a feature film around the source material.
All in all, ‘Florida Man’ is an entertaining series that works because of strong performances, especially Ramirez. The middle part of the series might turn out to be too slow for some people, but if they get through that, the last two episodes will completely blow their minds. ‘Florida Man’ is an entertaining seven-part series that could have been better if it was shorter.
'Florida Man' is currently streaming on Netflix.