‘American Hostage’ Review: Jon Hamm Anchors a Tepid Period Drama on Timely Threats to the Fourth Estate

Inspired by a true story, co-creators Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers' eight-episode period drama follows Indianapolis radio reporter Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm) as he tries to cover a hostage crisis without compromising his ethics — or getting anyone killed.

“We as a community — as a city, as a society — we’re trading in one thing that’s been run by one family for generations, that we’ve used for generations, and we’re trading it in for something newer.”

In that summary of a news story pitch, Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm) could be referring to just about anything. Omit the word “family” and the phrasing is broad enough to encompass, say, ditching Google’s trusted search engine for faulty, history-erasing A.I. Or maybe he’s invoking technology more broadly: how things we once bought, owned, and used for years are ceding market dominance to temporary leases of shoddy products that need to be “upgraded” more and more often. Hell, he could even be alluding to clothing, vaccines, or the Constitution of the United States.

That last option comes closest to what “American Hostage” wants us to recognize. The new series from co-creators Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers’ focuses on a principled hostage situation in 1977, which comes to illustrate the critical need for an independent Fourth Estate. Obviously, given the true story takes place long before the internet existed, Fred’s sweeping statement isn’t explicitly referencing any of modern journalism’s salient issues, let alone Big Tech or tiny needles. (I believe he was talking about a mall opening.) But like his carefully worded summation, the eight-episode series still positions itself to be broadly viewed through a topical lens — which is something, at least, since the actual hostage crisis is dull as dirt.

The hourlong drama for MGM+ (adapted from the podcast of the same name) is ostensibly about two men: the aforementioned Fred Heckman, news director and senior reporter for WBIC in Indianapolis, and Tony Kiritsis (Giovanni Ribisi), the subject of his biggest story. On a cold Monday morning in February, Tony marches into the downtown offices of Meridian Mortgage Company, politely waits for his appointment with the newly named president, Richard Hall (Kirstoffer Polaha), and then walks right back to his apartment with ol’ Dickie in tow, a shotgun fixed to his head.

Tony may have his finger on the trigger, but he sees himself as the victim. Before leaving the mortgage office, he calls Fred, hoping the “most trusted voice in news” will share his story with local listeners. Meridian, Tony claims, offered him a loan knowing he could never pay it back, all so they could foreclose on his property and acquire it themselves for pennies on the dollar. There’s more to it than that, but there are also more victims than Tony — Meridian reportedly pulled similar schemes on more than 90 percent of their clients, which makes Tony a folk hero to aggrieved Hoosiers across the city.

Beyond breeding sympathy, “American Hero” doesn’t do much with Tony’s antihero ascension — certainly less than it could in the era of Luigi Mangione. Lots of shouting, phone calls, and interviews grow redundant, fast, and the overextended narrative saps any tension from the hostage situation. In an odd attempt to fill time, Tony keeps teasing further secrets that never come. Even after the would-be shooter explains his side of things (you get the full picture by the end of Episode 2), he keeps complaining about being misunderstood or boasting about damning secrets he’s yet to reveal. He even tells Fred that he was chosen for a reason, as if his simple plan hinges on a deep, dark, personal detail buried somewhere within the host of “My Town Indy.”

There’s not, and these aren’t the only stray threads the series leaves hanging: “American Hostage” opens with an intertitle emphasizing the fines broadcast networks faced for allowing obscenities on the air. Tony curses constantly while talking to Fred, and yet — despite lots of fretting in the first episode over FCC penalties bankrupting the station — I still don’t know what, if anything, WBIC paid for all those F-bombs. There’s also a dream sequence inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” that doesn’t make sense, given the dreamer won’t be able to see the film for another three years.)

Setting loose ends aside, there’s a bit of fun to be had in the tactile period details (so many heavy switches getting thrown and buttons being pressed), as well as watching Jon Hamm enter Don Draper mode once again. Fred, like the iconic “Mad Men” lead, wears suits like a uniform. He’s the star employee. He’s prone to hissy fits when he doesn’t get his way, but that’s rare, since everyone wants him: Advertisers insist he reads their copy, CBS is courting him with a job in New York, and the station sells mugs with his face on them for devoted fans of the local news anchor. Plus, you know, he looks just like Don!

Granted, Fred doesn’t cheat on his wife, Barbara (Mireille Enos), but he does piss her off, and the same goes for his work wife, Ben Hairston (William Jackson Harper), a news junkie who’s little more than Fred’s walking, talking conscience. (No shade to Harper, who’s quite good at balancing ethical spoilsport and like-minded bestie.) It’s not exactly a challenging role for Hamm (who’s put to similar, more nuanced work in the Emmy-nominated Apple TV series “Your Friends and Neighbors”), but like those suits, it’s well-tailored to his strengths (the voice, the command, the funny faces he makes when things don’t go his way).

Staring at Fred/Don/Jon’s concerned visage may prove distracting enough for certain viewers to ignore the series’ larger flaws and embrace its loose censure of systemic corruption. Our heroic, if fallible, journalist frowns at the money lenders who make their millions from people left penniless. He stares daggers at the FBI agent (Jonathan Tucker) who analyzes suspects without clocking their humanity. He scowls at lawyers whose word isn’t worth the dirt their Italian loafers walk over.

And what about Fred’s word? That’s what’s really at stake, and eventually, his sour expressions turn inward when the most trusted voice in news foregoes his own principles in favor of the crowd’s demands. “American Hostage” doesn’t reckon with the consequences of trading editorial independence for happy cops, a smooth trial, and personal acclaim. But it does invite comparisons to today, where agenda-driven newsrooms and capitulating reporters have become the frightening norm of a media industry under siege.

If you’re going to trade a taut hostage thriller for a Sorkin-esque rant about the forces preying on American journalism, at least the thought counts for something.

Grade: C+

“American Hostage” premiered Friday, September 11 at the Toronto International Film Festival. MGM+ will release the first two episodes Sunday, September 20 with new episodes released weekly through the finale on November 1.