(CNN)Samuel L. Jackson’s considerable star power fails to bring to life The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a slow-moving Apple TV+ limited series constrained by the disjointed nature of its plot. Just securing a project with Jackson (who serves as both producer and star) is probably coup enough for the streaming service, but the marquee value doesn’t overcome what turns out to be a vantage point as a slog.
Jackson’s title character is introduced in the early stages of dementia and depends on the help of his nephew (Omar Miller), who is murdered at an early age. In the absence of a caretaker, Ptolemy befriends orphaned teenager Robyn (Dominique Fishback) before meeting a doctor (“Justified’s” Walton Goggins) who offers him a second chance: an experimental drug treatment that has the ability to destroy Ptolemy’s memories restore, at least temporarily.
Based on the 2010 novel by Walter Mosley, who also serves as executive producer, the narrative meanders before reaching this point, which opens up a series of flashbacks as his memories flood back, including Ptolemy’s family history and long-dormant ones Memories of the horrors they faced.
These sequences run parallel to Ptolemy using the time he has left to find out who killed his nephew and seek revenge before the miracle drug fades and it’s too late.
The concept creates a striking role for Jackson – alternately showing anger and confusion as he battles the whims of his own mind while playing the character at different ages – and the latest opportunity to admire Fishback, who continues to build a résumé of knockout- Appearances including HBO’s The Deuce and Judas and the Black Messiah.
Still, oscillating between past and present already feels like an overused device, and the transitory nature of Ptolemy’s treatments – falling back between them – erodes the story’s dynamic before it can reach a less than satisfactory conclusion.
Streaming has become the ideal place for big names like Jackson to bring in passion projects, giving them creative freedom and the ability to flesh out stories that would garner less attention as independent films, assuming they get made at all. As for the services, publicity and prestige make considerations of actual viewership secondary to not regularly disclosing those numbers.
In that sense, The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray should bring benefits to those directly involved. The benefit to viewers of this uneven series isn’t nearly as clear.
The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray premieres March 11 on Apple TV+. (Disclosure: My wife works for an Apple unit.)
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