Common Sense Media Review
By Jenny Nixon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Retro '80s British comedy centers on swaggering salesmen.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
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White Gold
What's the Story?
WHITE GOLD is a British comedy series set in the 1980s that follows the misadventures of a crew of PVC double-glazing salesmen in Essex. The team is headed by cocky wannabe entrepreneur Vincent Swan (Ed Westwick), who oversees the wishy-washy failed musician Martin Lavender (Joe Thomas) and unscrupulous prankster Brian Fitzpatrick (James Buckley). The product they sell is decidedly low-rent (like their bad suits and mustaches), and their sales tactics rip off elderly pensioners with no shame whatsoever, but they see themselves as slick bad boys at the top of their game. In actuality, they're laughable losers and horrible influences on each other, who get mixed up in all kinds of criminal and/or interpersonal troubles both at work and at home. While the show is a comedy, there's a fair bit of drama as well, as Vincent juggles multiple mistresses and implodes his marriage, which has lasting repercussions on his family and the business.
Is It Any Good?
One would be hard-pressed to watch this series and not immediately think of Leonardo DiCaprio's audacious portrayal of scumbag stockbroker Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. This isn't only because Westwick's Vincent Swan is constantly breaking the fourth wall and making snarky asides to the audience. The hairspray-addicted Swan has a lot in common with Belfort, in that he's a quick-thinking pretty boy who's full of bravado (as well as drugs ... lots of drugs). Like Belfort, he has no qualms about ripping people off and sees himself as being above "the plebs" in life, happy as a clam to step all over the less-thans on his way to the top. He's not likable, exactly, but Westwick commits so completely to the role that it's hard not to keep watching this handsome, magnetic super-jerk.
Thomas and Buckley (both from The Inbetweeners) have great comedic chemistry as his underlings, and Lauren O'Rourke is hilarious as their daffy office assistant, Carol. For fans of British comedy, or for viewers who want to see Westwick do an '80s-style twist on his Gossip Girl character, Chuck Bass (but with the actor's natural accent this time), White Gold is worth a watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the appeal of a character like Vincent Swan -- an antihero. Why do people enjoy watching shows like White Gold about people who do bad things?
Vincent Swan is focused on making as much money as he can, whatever the cost. Does the money make him happy? How does his quest for financial success jeopardize his family life?
TV Details
- Premiere date : August 11, 2017
- Cast : Ed Westwick , James Buckley , Joe Thomas
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 25, 2022
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