Javier Bardem Strikes ‘Fear,’ Finales of ‘Neighbors’ and ‘Amadeus,’ Dealmaking on ‘Dutton Ranch’

Cape Fear

In 1962, Robert Mitchum terrorized Gregory Peck and Polly Bergen in a hit thriller. Then it was Robert De Niro‘s turn to bedevil Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange in Martin Scorsese‘s 1991 remake. Now the story, based on John D. MacDonald’s The Executioners, becomes a TV series, starring Javier Bardem as the menacing ex-con Max Cady, targeting the married lawyers (Amy Adams, Patrick Wilson) he blames for his 17-year incarceration as he orchestrates a psychological cat-and-mouse game. With each sinister twist telegraphed by a bombastic score (adapted from Bernard Herrmann‘s original), Cape Fear is the opposite of subtle in its suspense. But as Bardem proved in his Oscar-winning performance in No Country for Old Men, he makes a memorable villain. The series launches with two episodes.

Your Friends & Neighbors

The gallows humor is palpable in the suburban satire’s Season 2 finale, with financier-turned-cat burglar Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) in yet another fine mess. “We’ve all got a lot to lose,” his beleaguered money manager Barney (Hoon Lee) declares as he, Coop, and their celebrity athlete friend Nick (Mark Tallman) survey the damage from their violent clash with shady billionaire Owen Ashe (James Marsden). A cover-up leads to more complications, including this observation from local realtor Sam (Olivia Munn), who had the bad luck to date Owen and laments, “Why does every relationship I have lead to criminal charges?” The series has already been renewed for a third season.

Amadeus

The finale of this lavish retelling of the Mozart-Salieri conflict gets meta when curious author Alexander Pushkin (Poldark‘s Jack Farthing) visits the widow Constanze (Gabrielle Creevy) to ask about the circumstances of Mozart’s (Will Sharpe) death, intending to write a play about it all. (Centuries later, Pushkin’s work would inspire Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed play, which led to the Oscar-winning movie and ultimately this series remake.) From their conversation, we witness the last days of Mozart, as his secret tormenter, the envious court composer Salieri (Paul Bettany), pushes the young musical genius into a feverish frenzy to complete his Requiem on his deathbed. Mozart, of course, gets the ultimate revenge, his masterworks enduring while Salieri lives long enough to know he’s already been forgotten.

Dutton Ranch

“It ain’t a ranch without a herd,” Rip (Cole Hauser) tells his partner in life Beth (Kelly Reilly) after their fledgling Texas enterprise suffers a devastating setback. But as any Yellowstone fan knows, this couple doesn’t give up easily, and each makes a separate arrangement with Rio Paloma’s most powerful rancher, Beulah Jackson (the terrific Annette Bening), to keep the lights on while plotting their future. “We need to be careful with this family,” Rip warns, which, from what we’ve seen so far, is an understatement.

Lorne

Filmmaker Morgan Neville‘s documentary makes its streaming debut, putting the spotlight on Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and gaining unusual access to the enigmatic visionary who shaped a late-night comedy franchise into a cultural institution. The film also provides an intimate look into the process of creating the topical weekly show, whose past and current stars have plenty to say about the man who helped make them famous.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• NBA Finals (8:30 pm/ET, ABC): Can the Knicks continue their 12-game playoff winning streak? The Spurs hope to put a stop to it and tie the series in Game 2 of the finals before the action moves to New York’s Madison Square Garden on Monday.
• The Maltese Falcon (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): It’s a “Summer of Darkness” on Fridays as film noir expert Eddie Muller hosts a weekly series of genre classics, starting with 1941’s iconic mystery starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, followed by 1944’s Double Indemnity (10/9c), with Barbara Stanwyck as the ultimate femme fatale.
• Dateline NBC (10/9c, NBC): Lester Holt reports an update on the investigation into Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
• Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman (11/10, USA Network): The WWE strongman eats his way through more American cities in Season 2, starting in Austin, where biscuits provide an appetizer before a hefty meal with WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry.

ON THE STREAM:

• Office Romance (streaming on Netflix): Romcom queen Jennifer Lopez stars as an airline CEO who breaks her own rules about workplace fraternization when she falls for the company’s new lawyer (Ted Lasso‘s Brett Goldstein, also a co-writer).
• Mexico 86 (streaming on Netflix): Andor‘s Diego Luna stars in a lively Spanish-language docudrama as bureaucrat Martin de la Torre, whose wheeling and dealing brought the 1986 World Cup to Mexico in 1986.
• Hannah Berner: None of My Business (streaming on Hulu): The puckish podcaster delivers a stand-up set before an audience in Toronto.
• Pillion (streaming on HBO Max): Alexander Skarsgård stars in a controversial not-quite-romcom — some dubbed it a “dom” (as in “domination”) com — making its streaming debut. The True Blood alum plays Ray, a handsome biker who draws shy young Colin (Harry Melling) into a relationship of submission. The film makes its linear premiere on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.
• Finding Mango: To Live and Die on Skid Row (8 pm/ET, streaming on Disney+ and Hulu): A documentary from ABC News profiles Mango, an unhoused man first discovered six years ago by Nightline in Los Angeles County, where, as Skid Row’s “unofficial mayor,” he provides a window to the realities of life on the streets.
• Groundswell (streaming on Prime Video): Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore are narrators of a documentary, completing a trilogy begun in Kiss the Ground and Common Ground, depicting how efforts in regenerative agriculture are helping to reverse environmental damage around the world.
• Unlikely Romances (9 pm/ET, streaming on Samsung TV Plus): A romantic anthology opens with the story of a bullied chess prodigy who reinvents himself to impress the cheer captain who once mocked him, only to discover she may not be as bad as all that.