Running about two minutes long, the “Sugar” trailer opens with a calming tone; Sugar, dressed in a fine suit and shades, drives a convertible through Los Angeles (his pet collie sitting in the passenger seat) as a jazzy trumpet bellows softly in the background. Then, while investigating an apartment, he stumbles into a knife fight and walks away bloody; “Good can be in the eye of the beholder,” he narrates.
Then, he meets with Siegel and takes the job, against the advice of Ruby (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). John Sugar starts combing Los Angeles — from the red carpets to the bars — in search of Olivia. In the latter, he meets Melanie Mackie (Amy Ryan), which is definitely a name right out of a hardboiled dime novel. As the trailer proceeds, it hints Sugar will unearth secrets that powerful people want to be kept hidden (this is a detective noir story, after all). However, it’s also said that Sugar is hiding something himself — I can only wonder which box of secrets holds the science-fiction elements.
Your mind might be jumping to “True Detective” season 2 now, another SoCal neo-noir starring Farrell. In that, Farrell played Ray Velcoro; far from the debonair Sugar, Ray was a small-town detective with the bad temper and dress sense of a cowboy (bolo tie and all). That season is still widely considered the worst season of “True Detective,” but Farrell rocked the show (Rachel McAdams too). Ray Velcoro was an important step in the 2010s Colin Farrell renaissance. I’d even argue that he took better advantage of the new respect than Matthew McConaughey did after season 1, but that’s a conversation for another time. One hopes that “Sugar” will be a strong enough show to support Farrell’s sure-to-be-great lead performance.
“Sugar” premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, April 5, 2024.