Am I the only soul who hasn’t seen Bryan Cranston blitz the world in Breaking Bad? I came to “Your Honor” hesitatingly: what if he isn’t the compelling actor everyone claims he is? I need not have fussed. Peter Moffat’s storyline, about a New Orleans judge facing impossible choices when his son is involved in the hit-and-run of a mob boss’s child, is riveting, a vehicle tailor made for an intense character actor, and Cranston nails each and every scene. Over ten leisurely episodes, the sinuous tale twists in a manner almost always unpredictable but just so right. The cinematography is atmospheric, the music thrums with portent, and New Orleans figures as a character in its own right. Amazingly for such a lead-actor-centered drama, the large supporting cast is uniformly excellent, with special mention due to Hunter Doohan’s sensitive-waif portrayal of the judge’s son and Michael Stuhleberg malevolence as the crime lord. In Australia, at least, the streamed version of Your Honor was drip fed week by week. I watched each episode the hour it hit my iPad, so thrilling was the experience.
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