Official Synopsis:
Michael Westen is a trained spy who receives a "burn notice" for an unstated reason & effectively is fired. Penniless, he returns to his hometown in Miami and freelances while trying to find who burned him.
  
Our Take:
Burn Notice has a lot of potential as a show. The premise is solid; we have a spy who’s on the outs and now he’s trying to figure out why and how he was blacklisted. Meanwhile he gets into plenty of clever predicaments and action to keep us as an audience entertained. It all sounds pretty cool. The one huge problem with it, though, is the lead actor, Jeffrey Donovan.

First off, he’s not that good of an actor. He has no personality and it comes through in his humdrum delivery of lines. But more than that, for me at least, is his face. I just don’t like it. I don’t like looking at him; he seems like someone I would see on the street and instantly become a nemesis of. And honestly, it’s downright hard to get into a show when it’s starring your nemesis. It may be irrational, but that’s how I react to him.

Now, to talk about the flipside of that, there are two characters that I enjoy greatly. One is Michael’s ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar). She is great to look at, has a sexy accent, and provides half of the comedy that comes out of the show. The other half is designated to the great Bruce Campbell. He plays a fun-loving drunk who’s also on the outs but still has ins with just about everyone in every business.

Special features include:

* Scene Specific Commentary for each episode Featuring Show Creator Matt Nix and stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless. – Just to note these aren’t full commentaries, they’re just short little bursts on random scenes.

* Character Montage (1 minute) – A brief set-up for the shows main characters.

* Girls Gone Burn Notice (2 minutes) – A montage of beautiful women.

* Action Montage (3 minutes).

* Gag Reel (3 minutes) – Featuring good times with Bruce Campbell.

* Audition Footage (10 minutes) – Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar.

* Saving Grace TV Show Music Video (3 minutes).

If you can look at the DVD cover for Burn Notice Season One and not feel angry towards the male lead, I could probably recommend this show to you. It really isn’t that bad, but it’s also not special enough to draw me in past my preconceived notions.

Overall Picture:
Movie: C+
DVD: B-

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer