Blu-Ray Review: Human Drama of Brilliant ‘Nurse Jackie’

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CHICAGO – Edie Falco gave one of the best performances in the history of television on “The Sopranos” and she’s found another character who could easily enter the pantheon of the format’s most beloved in the amazing title character of Showtime’s dark comedy “Nurse Jackie,” now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

Jackie Peyton lives a daily existence that most of us couldn’t possibly relate to directly but Falco makes this woman one hundred percent believable. It’s an amazing performance. Peyton is a nurse in the ER at New York City’s All Saints Hospital. Based on a journal by a real-life Manhattan ER nurse, “Nurse Jackie” portrays daily life in one of the most unusual places in the world, one that features stoners with third degree burns in very private places, missing body parts, and elderly patients who refuse care.

Nurse Jackie: Season One was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 23rd, 2010.
Nurse Jackie: Season One was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 23rd, 2010.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

Her work life would be crazy enough if Jackie hadn’t allowed her personal life to spiral out of control along with it. Her recurrent back problems have led to a serious addiction to painkillers and access to drugs has led to an affair with the hospital pharmacist (former “Sopranos” co-star Paul Schulze). Other daily issues include dealing with the cocky new doctor (Peter Facinelli), having lunch with her best friend at the hospital (Eve Best), butting heads with the ER administrator (Anna Deavere Smith), and even monitoring a wide-eyed student (Merritt Wever). Only her fellow nurse Mo-Mo (Haaz Sleiman of “The Visitor”) can possibly understand her daily grind.

Nurse Jackie: Season One was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 23rd, 2010.
Nurse Jackie: Season One was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 23rd, 2010.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

And that’s not even the end of it. Jackie is married with two daughters, one of who appears to be cracking under the pressure of life before she’s even out of high school.

Every half hour of “Nurse Jackie” presents a day in the life of Falco’s riveting lead as she gets the kids to school, deals with patients & doctors, manages her own addictions, and comes home to family problems again. The cluttered life of Jackie Peyton could have easily led to sitcom-ish writing and unbelievable behavior but Falco grounds it all in amazing reality, never allowing it to feel forced. Falco brilliantly realizes how this woman segments the problems of her life in the way a nurse can’t take the problems of one patient to the next one.

Falco is simply spectacular and deserves to win another mantle-ful of awards for this performance but the supporting cast is nearly as strong. Best and Sleiman have the most rewarding roles but the entire ensemble works, most notably Peter Facinelli, who had never displayed this kind of range or ability before. He’s quite good.

“Nurse Jackie” isn’t perfect even if the cast often is. Sometimes the writing feels like it’s trying a bit too hard to juggle too many things in half an hour but when the show has the time to catch its breath, the wonderfully balanced tones of drama and comedy make for incredibly rewarding television.

And, like most shows originally broadcast in HD, it looks amazing in 1080p. Blu-ray is clearly the way to go when it comes most programming but especially that broadcast on pay cable where the production value approaches theatrical work.

Special features on the Blu-ray release of “Nurse Jackie” include “Prepping Nurse Jackie,” “All About Edie,” “Unsung Heroes,” “Nurse Stories,” and audio commentary with Edie Falco, Creator/Producers Liz Brixius and Linda Wallam and Producer Richie Jackson.

‘Nurse Jackie: Season One’ was released by Lionsgate and stars Edie Falco, Eve Best, Peter Facinelli, Anna Deavere Smith, Dominic Fumusa, Paul Schulze, Haaz Sleiman, and Merritt Wever. The 2-disc set was released on February 23rd, 2010. It is unrated and runs approximately 360 minutes.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Anonymous's picture

The Peter Facinelli

The Peter Facinelli character, Dr.Cooper, never eats lunch with Jackie’s bestfriend, but instead the guy she is having an affair with at the hospital, Eddie. It’s an honest mistake.

Anonymous's picture

“Nurse Jackie” is

Nurse Jackie” is perfect for those who like comedy and drama. It’s a great serial and it deserves to to have a Blu-ray version.

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