Almost Got It

USA Network debuted its TV movie version of John Sandford's Certain Prey, one of his Lucas Davenport novels, this evening.

It starred (and was executive produced by) Mark Harmon, the mainstay of USA rerun stalwart NCIS. Harmon is a fan of the Prey series and finally got his chance to put one of the books on the screen. It's not all that bad even if it doesn't really quite click. Part of the problem could be the choice of books.

Certain Prey may have been attractive because it offers a ready-made sequel (Davenport and hitwoman Clara Rinker will match wits again in Mortal Prey) and because it comes during a hiatus in Davenport's relationship with eventual bride Weather Karkinnen. Not having the "home life" story simplifies the plot a great deal. But the story of Davenport investigating the murder of a wealthy woman and the twists that investigation takes when he starts to pursue Clara Rinker is not a high point in the series. It relies way too much on implausible coincidences and chance meetings that bring a roll to the reader's eyes.

And part of the problem is the lead. Harmon does OK as Davenport, but he's been Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS for too long to easily shed association with that character, especially since Davenport has some of the same characteristics. The similarities are enough that the differences jar the story like a needle skipping on a record. Harmon also carries too much laid-back southern California atmosphere with him to nail the colder, bleaker Davenport, and being a good 20 years older than the character in question doesn't help either.

USA probably has its eye on the success Tom Selleck had in creating the televised version of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone, and may hope to run a similar string of TV movies using the Prey books. It's hard to say how likely that is -- choosing one of the better series entries will help some, but either Davenport needs to be recast with another actor or the stories need to come from later in the series, when the gap between Harmon's actual age and the character's is less.