TV Review: 'The Riches'

Minnie Driver as you have never seen her before - as an ex-con, drug addicted mother of three. Eddie Izzard as you have rarely seen or heard before - in men's clothes and trying to act with an American (Southern) accent.

The Riches is worth checking out if you have not caught one of the first two episodes that have already aired. The basic storyline is interesting. A couple of Irish-American gypsies (Driver and Izzard) assume the identity of people who died in a car accident. The dead couple were rich (he was a lawyer) and now the faux Riches find themselves in a very big house with well-to-do neighbors.

The main characters are not very likable, they are a bunch of thieves and grifters. The parents (Driver and Izzard) are criminals and are raising their children to be thieves as well. There seems to be a lack of love in the family, they seem more like a criminal organization than a crime family. Eddie Izzard's character (the father) is kind of likable because he is the one that (sort of) wants the family to go straight, all be it by identity theft and fraud.

Here's where I think this show is headed, the fake (criminal) Riches will find that they have a lot of similarities with their upper class neighbors. All of the attorneys at the law firm can't be honest, can they? And one neighbor is already enabling the drug addicted mother by recommending a doctor that doesn't ask too many questions before prescribing drugs.

This show has a lot of potential and I plan on sticking around for a while to see if it gets real good.

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The Riches
Mondays, 10pm FX
Rated Mature Audiences