Preview of 307 "Hazel Park"

From:smh.com
Date:January 21 2004
By Lisa Pryor


The Guardian

Ten, 8.30pm

If there was ever call for the introduction of a sideways thumb into The Guide, this could be it.

On the one hand, the scenario of a coke-snorting tosser of a corporate lawyer, Nick Fallin, being sent to do pro-bono work for children is kind of creative and the actor who plays that lawyer, Simon Baker, is good-looking and an Australian.

On the other hand, the storylines are unrelentingly cheesy and American.

Tonight, said lawyer is sent on an emu parade by his probation officer to help underprivileged kiddies. He finds himself applying bandaids (read, painting over graffiti, picking up rubbish) alongside a teenaged former client, whom he proceeds to help get a job.

Meanwhile, Nick's dad, Burton Fallin, is thinking of adopting the young girl he cares for. Just scrapes into the thumbs-up basket.