USA’s WHITE COLLAR = Summer Viewing Pleasure

(07/08/2010)

Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay

White Collar is the televised version of a great summer-read. The Jeff Eastin-created dramedy, returning for its second season on USA, next Tuesday (July 13th) at 9pm, is the perfect combination of off-kilter buddy story, relationships, crime thriller, cops and robbers, the FBI, crooked agents, missing treasures, fabulous sets and wardrobe, and a lead actor so good-looking that next to him, the women on the show (beauties in their own right) seem downright plain.

Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer

Staring Matt Bomer as master con-artist/forger/thief Neil Caffrey; and Tim DeKay as Peter Burke, the only FBI agent smart enough to catch him (twice), White Collar is – at its heart – a slicker, dressed-up, serialized version of any number of cop/buddy flicks. It’s the old “I’ll help you catch him…” deal, with which we’re so familiar. Whether it’s the arrangement struck between Reggie Hammond and Detective Sgt. Jack Cates in 48 Hours, or the quid pro quo of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Special Agent Trainee Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs – it’s a formula we know and love.

Tiffani Thiessen, Tim DeKay, and Matt Bomer

So, in exchange for becoming a “con-sultant” for the FBI’s White Collar Crimes division, Caffrey is sprung from jail. Of course, there are conditions – a GPS tracking-monitor is tethered to his ankle, his movements are confined to within a 2-mile radius of the FBI building, he’s only got a $200/week allowance, etc.

The show’s got more than the requisite amount of good-hearted kidding-around, and some great supporting characters (Tiffani Thiessen as Burke’s wife, Elizabeth; Willie Garson as Caffrey’s underworld pal, Mozzie; and Marsha Thomason as Burke’s FBI protégée, Diana).

Matt Bomer

The attention to detail is great. Case in point: while shopping at a thrift store, he meets June (Diahann Carroll), and as a great little bit of deus ex machina to get Neil (a fan of living to good life, and an expert on all that entails) set-up with accommodations and a wardrobe that suit his caviar tastes (and his non-existent budget), we find that June’s late husband, Byron (a contemporary of the Rat Pack) left her with one of New York’s largest private residences and closets full of custom suits and accessories (all of which happen to fit Neil, perfectly).

So, Neil moves into a guest suite (more of an apartment, really) at June’s house, and rocks a very ‘40s look consisting of skinny ties, tie pins, fedoras, and exquisite vintage suites by Sy Devore (the “tailor to the stars,” Devore dressed the Rat Pack, John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Nat King Cole, Desi Arnaz, and Bing Crosby, as well as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Said Bob Hope famously, “In a very good year, I have my choice between a Rolls-Royce, a new house in Beverly Hills, or a suit from Sy Devore.”)

Matt Bomer and Willie Garson

While not unpredictable (obviously, Peter and Neil are gonna catch the bad guys), there are enough twists and turns to make each episode suspenseful – oftentimes surprisingly so. The writing is clever and smart, and the timing of the actors is terrific – especially the scenes between Bomer and Garson. That Bomer is, in fact, so incredibly charismatic he could likely charm, well, anyone out of anything, is just an example of how important a role casting plays.

Photo: Richard Phibbs

Just how hot is Matt Bomer?

(1) In their annual “Sexiest Man Alive” issue, People Magazine rated Bomer “Sexiest Rising Star” of 2009;

(2) Entertainment Weekly, in the “Summer Must List” issue (on newsstands, now), named Bomer the “Must Summer Crush” with a pair of smoldering photos by Richard Phibbs; and

(3) As recently as this morning, the PopWrap blog on the NY Post’s website has reported about a new Tumblr-based blog that is devoted entirely to Bomer, called F*ck Yeah Mr. Matt Bomer.