Product Details

• Actors: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, Beth Riesgraf
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 14, 2009
• Run Time: 584 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (215 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001OQCVCY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,841 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Leverage: The First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

TNT's Leverage takes a Robin Hood approach to criminal justice. After losing his son, ex-insurance investigator Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton) reinvents himself as an avenging angel who rights wrongs for victims of organized greed with the skilled support of thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf), hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), grifter Sophie Devereaux (Coupling's Gina Bellman), and retrieval specialist or “hitter” Elliot Spencer (Angel's Christian Kane).

In the spirit of Mission: Impossible, each episode revolves around a different job, and though producer/director Dean Devlin (Independence Day) shot the pilot in Chicago, Leverage Consulting sets up shop in L.A., where the rest of the series takes place. Hardly original--even the jazz-funk score sounds familiar--it's still a breezy lark that moves easily between drama and comedy, and the flashbacks to the team's past are a fun touch. During their inaugural year, they represent clients ranging from a wounded reservist to Nate's pastor (D.B. Sweeney). Other notable guests include Buffy's Danny Strong as a conscience-free contractor and Popular's Sara Rue as an endangered whistleblower. All the while, the hard-drinking Nate's attraction to the increasingly alarmed Sophie grows at the same rate as his alcohol consumption (Alec also develops a crush on the oblivious Parker).

Despite Hutton's Oscar credentials and top billing, 21-year-old Hodge often steals the show with his hilarious line readings and the deleted scenes reveal some equally amusing adlibs. Other extras include five featurettes and commentary on the 13 episodes from Devlin, creators John Rogers and Chris Downey plus key writers and directors, like Tony Bill (My Bodyguard) and Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation), who directs Trek veterans Brent "Data" Spiner and Armin “Quark” Shimerman in "The Juror #6 Job." In response to strong ratings, TNT renewed Leverage for a second season. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Leverage is a slick and crafty drama following a team of expert thieves that take down corrupt corporations in elaborate high-tech schemes. Insurance investigator Nate Ford (Academy Award-winner Timothy Hutton) exposed scams and recovered stolen items worth millions. But his life hit the skids when his insurance company allowed his ailing 8-year-old son to die. Years later, Nate gets even as the leader of a specialized team of thieves, computer experts and con artists that right corporate and governmental injustices against honest citizens. To expose corruption, Nate will do wrong for all the right reasons –– he will provide Leverage.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand fun! May 24, 2009

By Linda C. Bergstrom

Format:DVD

This series features a modern day Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men -- or in this case, men and women -- pulling off cons, capers, and heists that redress wrongs, return ill-gotten gains to their rightful owners, and also pad the pockets of our heroes.

Though it's tempting to focus on the excellent cast, who do a uniformly stellar job with the scripts, the greatest strength of this show is in the writing. The stories are focused as much on revelation and development of the characters and their histories and interactions as on the clever and intriguing plots. The characters are given depth and dimension -- not to mention humor -- and the viewer finds as much to care about in each of them as in how the caper of the week will play out.

An outstanding opening season for this new series. Not to be missed.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Robin Hood meets Ocean's 11 February 24, 2009

By Morgan le Fay

Format:DVD

Love this show, too. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to work after the pilot but it really did. The stories are good, the dialogues witty, smart and to the point, the characters are intriguing and the mix of comedy, thriller & action is very well balanced.
Season 2 is being shot april-october so the first new episodes will air in summer, by the way.
The seasons are shorter than usual, somewhere between 12 and 16 episodes I believe, but the budget must be as big as for 22 episodes because each on feels like a small blockbuster. So for those of you who missed the show so far, get it ASAP!!!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get." August 5, 2009

By H. Bala TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Hog heaven, brother, is what I'm wallowing in. Loving con artist stories like I do, LEVERAGE: THE FIRST SEASON is like unwrapping a crazy awesome present. If you dig stuff like The Sting (Universal Legacy Series), Ocean's Eleven (Widescreen Edition), or even Paper Moon, then LEVERAGE falls right in your wheelhouse. It's slick and smart and funny, and the key characters, initially cut from that predictable mold, quickly grow on you. TNT rolled out thirteen episodes of television goodness, except that by the first episode I'd already gotten hooked. Okay, "The Miracle Job" isn't any great shakes, but the rest of the episodes are very good. In fact, the standouts are "The Nigerian Job," "The Mile High Job," "The Stork Job," "The Juror #6 Job," and the two parter season closers "The First David Job" & "The Second David Job."

I don't follow Timothy Hutton too much, but if a guy was ever meant to play a functioning alcoholic mastermind, it's Hutton. Nathan Ford (Hutton) is an ex-insurance investigator who parted ways with his insurance company when it refused to pay for his 8-year-old son's medical treatment. And Nathan's son died. So there's a grudge against corporate entities already set in place when Nathan is approached to lead a "specialized" team in a righteous heist. And that's how the not-quite-legal Leverage Consulting & Associates firm was born (providing "leverage" for the downtrodden).

Thing is, Nathan Ford, all divorced and still grieving for his dead son and bleary eyed from the cups, is still a straight shooter, even though he's now orchestrating heists and stiffing soulless mega-corporations and underhanded governmental agencies who've effed with the helpless common Joes. And, while Nathan hasn't exactly reformed his tiny gang of thieves, hackers, muscle, and flim-flammers (all of whom had, before this, preferred to work solo), he's got them having so much fun doing bad for good causes that it's almost the same thing. I don't know if this is coming out of left field or not, but there's also this A-TEAM vibe permeating the thing, with Timothy Hutton's character just falling short of lighting a stogie and declaring that "I love it when a plan comes together."

The show makes these characters interesting, and respective episodes do fill in some of the gaps in their backgrounds (although there's still a lot about their pasts that we're kept in the dark about). My favorite lawbreaker is Parker, the world's best thief and played with endless quirk, daredevil flair, and antisocial tendencies by Beth Riesgraf. Not to mention, she also provides a huge chunk of the funny. In "The Mile High Job" Parker's less than hostessy demeanor sets back stewardess/passenger relations for years. And in "The Juror #6 Job" I'll only mention that Parker attends jury duty (oh, and that she quiickly sniffs out a rat). Gina Bellman as grifter Sophie Devereaux also rocks it. I like that, when she's not hoodwinking her marks, Sophie sidelines as an actress, except that she's cringingly horrible at acting. But then put her in a scam, and she's flawless with her lines. She's simply hilarious in "The Stork Job," in which the Leverage crew takes over a Belgrade movie set (the movie is "Howl Force," about NATO troops being attacked by werewolves). Bellman and Riesgraf aren't your classic lookers, but there's no denying that Gina Bellman oozes sexy sophistication (and touts a range of convincing accents), and Beth Riesgraf smacks so much of crazy that I find her all kinds of attractive. (Huh. I may be a little disturbed myself.)

The stings usually involve lots of hi-tech stuff, and so it's gratifying to have an episode in which Parker is unexpectedly asked to steal an item and she, on the fly, bypasses an impressive security system using nothing but what's available at hand (bit of make-up, aluminum foil, etc.).

In thirteen episodes set to a jazzy cool musical score, the five-person team inflicts disguises, diversions, smooth con talk, double crosses, variations on classic scams and all around nasty trickeration on crooks big and small but all deserving. Part of the fun is when things don't go according to plan, and they end up having to improvise. The show indulges some in Fool-the-Audience and so part of the fun is also when the episode gets around to revealing what was really going on behind the scenes. And, to add even more flavoring, the show even introduces an element of romance here and there.

If there's a running sub-plot in this season, it's Nathan's worsening alcoholism. This finally forces the crew to do an "intervention," except that their notion of intervention isn't what you or I may come up with. This leads into the two-parter season finale, as the Leverage consulting firm tries to take down the insurance company which so messed up Nathan's life. And we also finally get to check out Nathan's hottie ex-wife. Also featured in the two-parter is recurring slimeball James Sterling, the chief investigator who'd taken over Nathan's position in that very same insurance company. In past episodes Sterling had gotten the better of Nathan. Methinks it's time for a getback.

Four discs in this set, with not too shabby special features: pretty informative producer/director/writer audio commentary on each episode (although one wishes that the cast had also been allowed to provide commentary); deleted scenes on selected episodes; "Leverage: Behind the Scenes" (12:40 minutes); "Anatomy of a Stunt Fight" - Christian Kane ("Eliot") breaks down a fight sequence from the episode "The First David Job"; "The Cameras of LEVERAGE" - um, basically a 2-minute showcase for the different types of cameras used in filming the show (kinda pointless, unless you're a tech freak); "LEVERAGE Gets Renewed" - a cool brief segment in which Dean Devlin gathers his cast & crew (necessitating some video conferencing) for the 2nd season renewal announcement; and Beth Riesgraf's very weird Crazy Actress Spoof.

The closing moments of the season finale attempts to throw some doubt as to whether these guys will stay together or go their separate ways. But no one was fooled. I mean, what beats getting payback for the little guy and being rewarded with an alternative revenue stream? The Leverage Consulting & Associates firm may be peopled with shifty characters, but they're shifty characters with pure hearts. More or less. Man, what a fun show!