The Sinner Review | The Sinner is the Bill Pullman We Need Right Now

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

I have now watched all three seasons of USA’s The Sinnner, streaming on Netflix, and I have have to ask because I am genuinely curious, who is Bill Pullman’s target audience? Is there a specific demographic this man appeals to? Boomers? Gen Xers? Mass appeal? He’s a weirdo’s weirdo who doesn’t come up in conversation very often. I’m a Pullman fan myself, but I’ve ever stood around at a party quoting lines and debating his best work. Bill Paxton, yes, many times, god rest him, but not Pullman. Why is that?

I googled “Bill Pullman fan club” to see if there was a corner of the internet my fellow Pullmaniacs liked to congregate, but all I could find was a fanpop page with this picture of young Bill squatting on top of a stool or something,

and a Bullpullman.org that’s laid out like a ransom demand.

Shouldn’t we be better organized? Doesn’t this man, who’s been killing the game for four decades deserve a digital shrine somewhere? Isn’t there some merch’ I can buy?

I think the first time I became Pullman Aware was after the movie Lost Highway. I was, of course, a huge Spaceballs fan, but too young at the time to think of the people in movies as actors. He was just Lonestar, the hero in a straightforward Mel Brooks parody. But Lost Highway is a strange film. It forces the audience to ask some tough questions like, Where did that guy go? Who was that guy? Who is this new guy? Is this the same guy as the other guy? The answer, in many ways to all of them, is Bill Pullman.

Someone at USA network knew which way was up; the enigmatic, taciturn Harry Ambrose is the only reason to watch The Sinner. He’s half Columbo, half Mickey Rourke in Barfly. His halting speech, misshapen yet still handsome face, and large head cocked back and to the side all seem to say, come closer. Come closer, dear viewer or you won’t be able to hear what I have to say, if and when I say anything at all – I swear, in three seasons it feels like Pullman has maybe a dozen lines.

I like this show because it’s about the search for what happened and why rather than the search for who did it. Anything could have happened so the mystery is vast and hard to predict. The search for who did it invariably leads to the same conclusion: someone did it. Oh it was that guy? I thought it was the other guy.

The first season of The Sinner is very good. Jessica Biel stars as Cora Tennetti and her relationship with Ambrose is tempestuous and engaging. We learn Ambrose has his own set of extracurricular interests which constrict his social and professional life. They get away from this a bit in the later seasons to the show’s detriment.

Season 2 takes place in Ambrose’s hometown. We get a local detective, a kid, and a cult. Everyone loves cults. Not as into kids, but this one is alright. The story unearths Harry’s past and secretive local politics.

By season 3, the writers seem to have forgotten the whole more-to-the-story thing and the show turns into one long episode of Criminal Minds. We get Matt Bomer as professional handsome person Jamie Burns, and Chris Messina as edgelord Nick Haas. The best part about season 3 is Jessica Hecht as Sonya Barzel who is the perfect complimentary weirdo to Harry Ambrose.

Watch the first two seasons of The Sinner if you are a Bill Pullman fan, or if you’re just a mystery fan. The third season can be skipped unless you’re a diehard, and if you are a diehard, then maybe you should be the one to start a Bill Pullman fan club. I’ll be first in line to sign up. In the meantime, I need to watch Ruthless People.