In ‘The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,’ Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback Shine in Walter Mosley’s Whodunnit: TV Review

variety.com:

Joshua Alston Apple TV’s new limited series, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” feels every bit as overdue as the justice and redemption sought by its nonagenarian protagonist. “Ptolemy Grey” is a passion project for star and executive producer Samuel L.

Jackson who has tirelessly hunted for a home for an adaptation of Walter Mosley’s novel since its release in 2010. It’s also, improbably, the first-ever series-length treatment of Mosley’s work, despite his prolific output and a narrative milieu full of the sexy mysteries prestige television thrives on. (To be fair, Amblin Television announced last year a series based on Mosley’s popular Easy Rawlins detective novels, the 15th of which was released last month.) While “Ptolemy” has flaws in its execution, it’s redeemed by earth-shaking performances, and justifies Jackson’s desire to spotlight a storyteller confined to the page for too long.

Mosley created the series himself, having cut his teeth as an executive producer of FX’s “Snowfall” and a brief stint on “Star Trek: Discovery.” Mosley either wrote or co-wrote “Ptolemy’s” six episodes, and it’s hard to imagine that another writer could have gotten into the headspace of the truly unique character he created.

Ptolemy Grey (Jackson) is a 91-year-old dementia patient living alone in a hoarded-out apartment in south Atlanta. Venturing out would be hard enough in his cognitive state, but doing so is impossible thanks to a neighborhood addict who attacks him and extorts him for money whenever he makes a rare appearance.