Despite its six-episode run, the Don Cheadle-helmed The Big Cigar packs too much into too little time.

Full Review | Jun 12, 2024

Actors playing the likes of Richard Pryor and Jack Nicholson add nothing. The episodes are short (40 minutes), yet The Big Cigar manages to be a bit of a drag.

Full Review | May 30, 2024

All the ingredients are there, but the food’s a little undercooked. That being said, the time we spent learning what induced Newton’s past and present paranoia was riveting in its own right. Plus, Holland’s performance is worth the watch alone.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | May 29, 2024

Andre Holland is epic as the embodiment of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party. This dramatization of his life by Jim Hecht is packed to the hilt with 70s soul cuts and Hollywood hard sell, that really brings this show to life,

Full Review | May 26, 2024

Andre Holland’s standing as one of America’s best actors, established in Moonlight and The Knick, is reinforced by his capacious performance in this ambitious mix of historic drama and shaggy comedy.

Full Review | May 24, 2024

Mostly, The Big Cigar is disappointingly anodyne...

Full Review | May 24, 2024

Despite not having excellent material to work with, Holland manages to give his Huey P. Newton the necessary depth to make it at least interesting and complex. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 22, 2024

With narrative fluidity and a pointed black power, the series tells a specific anecdote while touching upon historical injustices and social inequalities in the land of freedom. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | May 20, 2024

It comes down to whether the story -- massaged or otherwise -- is a good one. In the case of The Big Cigar, it mostly is. Its sheer machinations are enough to keep you watching.

Full Review | May 20, 2024

The Big Cigar was meant to be a movie... André Holland, however, knows exactly what he’s doing, and his performance keeps The Big Cigar engaging even when the plot struggles.

Full Review | May 20, 2024

Real-life figures are introduced somewhat clunkily. Still, with an opening double bill directed by Don Cheadle, it boasts modish, wraparound styling, a solid soundtrack, a firm sense of Black history and lively dialogue.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 20, 2024

Enjoyably watchable if occasionally tonally uncertain.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 19, 2024

The Big Cigar strikes different thematic tones with superb lead performances. Newton running from abhorrent racism as America's most wanted is deadly serious, while Hollywood moguls and their actor acolytes have a degree of dark humor.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 18, 2024

And it’s a shame that the writing can’t manage to create a coherent and compelling story out of the source material, because the series has a hell of a leading performance from Holland that is utterly wasted within the confused storytelling.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.2/5 | May 18, 2024

While The Big Cigar pays lip service to the issues that dominated Newton’s life, they serve as a smokescreen for what it really wants to be most of the time… a Shaft-era Blaxploitation caper movie in six episodes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 17, 2024

What should be an enticing mashup of the civil-rights movement and Hollywood in the freewheeling ‘70s doesn’t entirely ignite, in a limited series whose underlying true story packs more of a wallop than the finished product.

Full Review | May 17, 2024

Despite our reservations about the storytelling in The Big Cigar, we were impressed by Holland’s turn as Huey P. Newton. That alone is enough to watch this fast-moving series.

Full Review | May 17, 2024

There’s one impeccable element: André Holland. Perfectly cast and delivering a performance filled with equal parts fear, anger, and tenderness... [Holland] again commands each scene with a grounded, raw charisma.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | May 17, 2024

There are shootouts and shady characters and heartbreaking losses to round it all out, giving the story an underground feel with high production values. You know where the tale is going, but in true Hollywood style the journey is what matters.

Full Review | May 17, 2024

The Big Cigar doesn’t deify its activist characters, but neither does it hide its sympathies.

Full Review | May 17, 2024