''A Man in Full'' is an American drama

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

starring

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime ...

and

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

, created and written by David E. Kelley, and directed by

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress, director and producer. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her o ...

and

Thomas Schlamme Thomas David Schlamme (; born ) is an American television director, known particularly for his collaborations with Aaron Sorkin. He is known for his work as executive producer on '' The West Wing'' and '' Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well ...

. The series consists of six episodes, and premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on May 2, 2024. It is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

Premise

Business and political interests collide when

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

real estate mogul Charlie Croker defends his empire from those wanting to capitalize on his sudden bankruptcy and fall from grace.

Cast and characters

Main

as Charlie Croker *

as Martha Croker *

Tom Pelphrey Thomas J. Pelphrey (born July 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for playing the roles of Jonathan Randall on the CBS television series ''Guiding Light'' (for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards), Mick Dante on the CBS television serie ...

as Raymond Peepgrass *

Aml Ameen Aml Ameen () (born 30 July 1985) is a British actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), Malcolm Davies in ''Harry's Law'', Lewis Hardy in the ITV (TV network), ITV television series ''The Bil ...

as Roger White *

Chanté Adams Chanté Adams (born December 16, 1994) is an American actress. She starred in the 2017 biopic ''Roxanne Roxanne'', for which she received the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Performance. Life and career Adams was born and raised i ...

as Jill Hensley * Jon Michael Hill as Conrad Hensley * Sarah Jones as Serena Croker * William Jackson Harper as Wes Jordan *

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

as Joyce Newman

Recurring

Bill Camp Bill Camp (born ) is an American actor. He has played supporting roles in many films such as '' Lincoln'' (2012), '' Compliance'' (2012), '' Lawless'' (2012), ''12 Years a Slave'' (2013), '' Love & Mercy'' (2015), '' Loving'' (2016), ''Molly's G ...

as Harry Zale * Jerrika Hinton as Henrietta White * Eline Powell as Sirja * Christian Clemenson as Wismer Stroock * Evan Roe as Wally Croker * Josh Pais as Herb Richman *

Anthony Heald Anthony Heald (born August 25, 1944) is an American character actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jailer, Dr. Frederick Chilton, in '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and '' Red Dragon'' (2002), and for playing vice principal Scot ...

as Judge Taylor * L. Warren Young as Gerald * Neal Reddy as D.A Jennings * Atkins Estimond as Five-O

Episodes

Production

Development

On November 4, 2021, it was announced that Netflix had given a series order to ''A Man in Full'', which is based on the novel of the same name by

. The series is created by David E. Kelley and half of its episodes directed by

. The two also executive produce along with Matthew Tinker. The series is produced by Royal Ties Productions and David E. Kelley Productions.

Casting

In early May 2022,

was cast.

was cast as the female lead in July 2022. William Jackson Harper,

, Sarah Jones, Jon Michael Hill,

, and

joined the series in August 2022.

Filming

Filming was previously set to begin in May 2022. Filming began on August 8, 2022, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and wrapped on December 10.

Release

''A Man in Full'' was released on May 2, 2024.

Reception

The series divided critics with many praising its direction, writing, and its ensemble, in particular

leading performance, but criticizing its exploration into the themes of the

1998 novel of the same name.

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 5.5/10, based on 40 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "For a show with excellent pedigree and a

novel to draw from, ''A Man in Full'' is disappointingly half-baked in its exploration of masculinity."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned a score of 50 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The central performance by

was praised by critics with

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

of ''

The Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily Non-profit journalism, nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation am ...

'' declaring him as being "perfectly cast" and having "turned in a world-class performance as the powerful and obscenely wealthy but beleaguered real estate tycoon". David Bianculli of ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'' agreed calling his performance "charismatic" and having "created a formidable man who's used to throwing his weight around." Nick Schager of ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' wrote that the show "struts about with swaggering ferocity, led by Jeff Daniels’ full-bodied performance as a blustery, bloviating capitalist predator." He also added, "Daniels chews scenery with larger-than-life gusto, lending the action the titanic attitude it demands". Andrews Anthony of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' praised the series writing, "The dialogue bristles and the acting is top-notch" describing it as "essential viewing." John DeVore of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the series a mixed review writing, "A Man In Full feels half-baked. All the elements are there. It’s well-shot, acted, and directed. No expense was spared. But it lacks punch." Alison Herman of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote negatively of the series writing, "The show ends up far less than the sum of its parts, an oddly generic and muted take on a larger-than-life American story."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man in Full (TV series), A 2020s American drama television miniseries 2024 American television series debuts 2024 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television shows based on American novels Television series created by David E. Kelley Television shows filmed in Atlanta Television shows set in Atlanta Television shows based on works by Tom Wolfe