Viewers of the new Paramount+ show Landman are praising Billy Bob Thornton's performance—but they're also criticizing how its female characters have been written.
Set in West Texas, the streaming service describes Landman as a "modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs... an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires that are fueling an [oil] boom so big it's reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics."
Thornton plays Tommy Norris, an oil crisis executive who tries to take his company to the top during an oil boom. He stars alongside Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Jon Hamm and Michelle Randolph.
The show is the latest offering from Taylor Sheridan, the man behind Yellowstone and its prequel series, 1883 and 1923. It is based on the documentary podcast Boomtown, which told the story of the West Texan oil boom. Boomtown's host, Christian Wallace, co-created Landman with Sheridan, which premiered on November 17.
Three episodes have aired so far, with reviews being mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, the program had an average Tomatometer score of 75% at the time of writing, which is based on the collective opinions of film and television critics. A movie or show is considered "Fresh" if at least 60% of critic reviews are positive, and "Rotten" if less than 60% are positive. The Popcornmeter rating, which captures audience sentiment, is 65%.
Here are some of the stand-out reviews from critics and social media users. Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Sheridan for comment on Wednesday.
Thoughts From Critics
The Guardian has given the show three out of five stars, and said that while Landman is "absolutely packed with zingers," its attitude towards women is "repellent."
The journalist wrote that everything Thornton's character says "is quoteworthy pith," but added: "You'll gather that Landman's portrayal of its women is... well, it's what some of the target audience might describe as a harmless throwback to a time before ordinary, humbly grafting guys were castrated by wokery, but it often comes off as overly horny fantasy, aimed at men who know the world has passed them by."
However, he said, "as usual with a Sheridan creation, the old-school values have an underdog morality at their core that makes Tommy and Landman difficult to hate."
While NPR praised Thornton's "strong" performance, it noted that "the show's women are often caricatures." The reporter added: "If only there was a female character drawn as well as Tommy in this series, Landman would transform from an entertaining TV drama to a captivating classic."
USA Today slammed the show, writing: "Slapped together with little regard to a sensible framework or even characters whose names you can remember, Landman is Sheridan's laziest work, and his most obscene.
"The series would be bad enough if it were just dull and insipid, which it is, but it comes with an intensely off-putting bit of male gaze that makes the series read as soft-core porn for old men who want to leer at teenage girls without any repercussions."
Variety's review was more positive. The writer said Landman is at its strongest when utilizing Thornton's "compelling screen presence," but the female characters are "uniformly lacking."
"Landman has the masculine bravado and conservative milieu of Yellowstone, Sheridan's flagship red state soap opera, but also builds an immersive, detailed world in the sun-baked Permian Basin that anchors the show in observed reality," the review reads.
Audience Reviews
Online critiques from everyday viewers were also mixed, with some praising Landman and Sheridan and others criticizing the show and its characters. Many rated Thornton, but were less impressed with how the women in the show were written.
Some people have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share their thoughts, with one person writing: "Where the f*** were the women in the writers room for #Landman ?????? The writing for his daughter is absolute horses***. What young girl is speaking with their dad like this or dressing like this around him?"
"Done with episodes 1 and 2. There is some potential here. But we really dont need annoying pantless daughter and video calls from ex," said another.
"#Landman has thoroughly impressed me in its first 3 eps. The entire cast plays their roles to perfection, but none more than Thornton. His delivery, demeanor, & raw charisma are infectious. Each thread of the grounded plot excels in its own way w/ Sheridan's DNA all over it," someone else posted.
A third added: "Enjoying Landman except for the weird daughter storyline #landman Billy Bob's character got me hooked!"
Viewers have also taken to Rotten Tomatoes to share their thoughts, where there are over 100 reviews from everyday citizens. Here, opinions on the show are mixed as well.
"Sheridan Slop [strikes] again. If this show didn't star Billy Bob Thornton it would be completely unwatchable. It almost still is. The first episode started out promising and intriguing. It quickly devolved into Sheridan's typical sophomoric slop: Insanely unrealistic dialogue, complete disregard of logic in several scenes, every female character is a disgusting sex pest, etc," one person wrote, giving the show a half a star out of five.
"I adore Billy Bob Thornton so I am enjoying him in this show. I also love John Hamm who is terrific, as always. I love the good old boys dialogue and pacing. All that said, the sexual exploitation of the '17-yr old daughter' is beyond the pale, and asking veteran actors to drool over her is disgusting. Come on, Taylor. The barrel racing girls in Yellowstone were tedious, but this is just plain creepy," someone who gave Landman three stars posted.
A four-star review reads: "It's got Billy Bob Thornton, and it's based in Texas so it's great! They need to rethink the sexual way they wrote his daughter's part.
"Surprised by the 65 score on this from the audience. Absolutely love this one. My absolute favorite right now!" someone else wrote, giving it five stars.
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