In “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” Samuel L. Jackson plays a dementia patient on the hot track. Seen on Apple TV.
Another historical arc is stretched in the Apple series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey”: It ranges from racial segregation in the southern United States to the present day. The erratic résumé of the aged title hero (Samuel L. Jackson) reflects the fate of African Americans in the 20th century without directly mentioning turning points – such as the “Great Migration” (the Afro-American mass exodus to the more liberal north from 1910) or civil rights Act (the federal equality of black people from the 1960s). The captivating plot regarding a contemporary witness from Atlanta does not rely on chronological history lessons and does not describe any political developments. Rather, the narrative is intimate and associative – and the hero is an average black citizen.
Similar to the film “The Father” with Anthony Hopkins, the plot is told from the perspective of a deranged person, for whom past and present get mixed up in the twilight years. Memories of his childhood in Mississippi haunt Gray more and more impressively: a flame fuels flashbacks to arson attacks and terror. Grey’s inner eye sees a man on fire running into a cornfield, but due to his dementia he lacks the context for the image.
Jackson initially plays the old man as a blunt eccentric who arouses pity but little sympathy. His great-nephew Reggie (Omar Benson Miller) visits him regularly – and is annoyed by the quirks of the single great-uncle, who usually sits in front of the television in his chaotic household. Grey’s monotonous existence only gets out of joint when the murder of his only reference person is ignored by the police. The orphaned Robyn (Dominique Fishback) helps the caregiver to process – and becomes his youthful roommate.
At the same time, the quirky old man’s mental decline takes an unexpected turn in the direction of science fiction. After having a serum injected by a doctor, Ptolemy can enter his memory like a virtual reality game while he sleeps. Side Effect: He has to re-watch disturbing childhood experiences. And deal with the lovesickness from his mustache phase in the 1970s. For the audience, however, the trick has magical consequences: Once Gray can be seen as a senior, in the next shot he is a boy or a guy once more.
An old rascal finds his cool
On his forays through memory, he also discovers forgotten treasures hidden in suitcases or under floorboards. His condition in waking life is improving bit by bit. He shaves off his shaggy beard, mutates into a generous charmer for those close to him and into an avenging investigator for the dead. It is remarkable that the surreal fantasy concept of a Faustian pact between white scientists and black subjects is not misused for lurid spectacles, but is used for historical-philosophical storytelling and the subtle processing of historical traumata – very sensual and socially realistic at that.
Jackson is playing the role of his life here. His appearance as a helpless rascal marks a break with his image as a defensive black man. But the more the cure hits his character, the more he gives her the confidence of the cool crooks and detectives he once embodied. Irrespective of small sentimentalities, great acting meets fascinating historical reflections here: a bravura piece.
