''Defending Jacob'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

miniseries, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by

William Landay William Scott Landay (born July 23, 1963) is an American novelist and former lawyer. Early life and education Landay graduated from the Roxbury Latin School in Boston, Yale University and Boston College Law School.Mehegan, David"His cases have ...

, produced by

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

. The series was created and written by

Mark Bomback Mark Bomback (born August 29, 1971) is an American screenwriter, originally from New Rochelle, New York. Bomback is a graduate of Wesleyan University, where he studied English Literature and Film Studies. Biography In 1994, Bomback began w ...

and directed by

Morten Tyldum Morten Tyldum (; born 19 May 1967) is a Norwegian film director. He is best known in his native Norway for directing the thriller film '' Headhunters'' (2011), based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, and internationally for directing the historical drama ...

. It stars Chris Evans,

Michelle Dockery Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which ...

, Jaeden Martell,

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, thr ...

Pablo Schreiber Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad Swe ...

, Betty Gabriel,

Sakina Jaffrey Sakina Jaffrey (born February 14, 1962) is an American actress. Early life Jaffrey was born in New York City, the youngest daughter of Indian-born parents, actress and food and travel writer Madhur Jaffrey, and actor Saeed Jaffrey. Her parents ...

and

J.K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

. It premiered on April 24, 2020, and concluded on May 29, 2020. The series received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly those of Evans, Dockery and Martell), ambiguity, and emotional weight, but criticized the pacing, length and ending. The miniseries was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on July 6, 2021, by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

Premise

''Defending Jacob'' tells the story of a family dealing with the accusation that their 14-year-old son may be a murderer.

Cast

Main

* Chris Evans as Andrew "Andy" Stephen Barber *

as Laurie Barber * Jaeden Martell as Jacob "Jake" Barber *

as Joanna Klein *

as Neal Logiudice * Betty Gabriel as Pam Duffy *

as Lynn Canavan

Recurring

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

as William "Bloody Billy" Barber *

Daniel Henshall Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Early life and education Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...

as Leonard Patz * Ben Taylor as Derek Yoo * Jordan Alexa Davis as Sarah Grohl * Megan Byrne as Joan Rifkin * Christopher Buckner as Young William "Bloody Billy" Barber (flashbacks) *

Patrick Fischler Patrick S. Fischler (born December 29, 1969) is an American character actor known for his roles as Jimmy Barrett on the drama series ''Mad Men'', Dharma Initiative worker Phil on the drama series '' Lost'' and Detective Kenny No-Gun on the poli ...

as Dan Rifkin *

Poorna Jagannathan Poorna Jagannathan is an American producer and actress of Indian descent. She is best known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries ''The Night Of'', as well for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy seri ...

as Dr. Vogel * Lizzie Short as Marianne Barber (flashbacks) * Evan Risser as Young Andy Barber (flashbacks) * William Xifaras as Father James O’Leary *

Lenny Clarke Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

as Food Truck Guy *

Michelle D. Violette Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish wi ...

as Paula Gianetto

Episodes

Production

Development

On September 20, 2018, it was announced that

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

had given a straight-to-series order consisting of eight episodes to a television miniseries adaptation of

's 2012 novel '' Defending Jacob''. The series was created by

who also wrote the series and executive produced alongside Chris Evans,

, Rosalie Swedlin, and Adam Shulman. Tyldum also directed the series as well. Production companies involved with the series consist of

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

and

Anonymous Content Anonymous Content (AC) is an American entertainment company founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Golin. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in Culver City, New York City and London. History Anonymous Content was founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Gol ...

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Chris Evans had been cast in the series' lead role. In March 2019,

and Jaeden Martell joined the cast of the series. In April 2019,

, Betty Gabriel and

joined the cast of the series.

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

was revealed as part of the cast in a March 2020 trailer.

Filming

Filming was confirmed to commence in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

––the city in which the novel takes place––in April 2019. Three locations were confirmed for filming: Cold Spring Park, the village of Newton Highlands, and the UMass Amherst Mount Ida Campus. Additional filming began in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295 ...

. Filming also began in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, on June 15, 2019, as well as at MCI Cedar Junction in

Walpole, Massachusetts Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Walpole Town, as the Census refers to it, is located about south of downtown Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population of Walpole was 26,383 at the 2020 censu ...

, on June 17, 2019, and in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, by the

UMass Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Mas ...

Tsongas Arena on June 19, 2019. Filming took place at River's Edge in

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...

, on June 21, 2019. Filming also commenced on June 28, 2019, in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, and on July 8, 2019, in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...

, where the facade of the old Watertown Police Station appears as the Newton Police Station in the series. Filming took place on July 9, 2019, at the

Town Diner The Deluxe Town Diner is a historic diner in Watertown, Massachusetts. This diner was manufactured on site, rather than having been prefabricated and shipped to the site from a specific diner manufacturer. In 1947, George Contos and his father ...

in Watertown. On July 18, 2019, they filmed at C&M Pizza in Leominster, Massachusetts. Neighborhood scenes were filmed in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College. History Early settlement Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...

. The scenes in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

were filmed on September 25, 2019, at the Grand Velas hotel in

Nuevo Vallarta Nuevo Vallarta () is a planned residential-resort community located in the Municipality of Bahía de Banderas, in the Mexican state of Nayarit. By automobile, it is about fifteen minutes north of Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Or ...

, in the state of

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

. Scenes were also filmed in Waltham on the property of Northgate Gardens Condominium.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series' approval rating is 72% based on reviews from 61 critics, with an average rating of 6.68/10. The website's critical consensus is, "Despite outstanding work from Michelle Dockery and Chris Evans, ''Defending Jacob'' stretches its source material too thin, undermining its own rich tension with too much melodramatic padding." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the series has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The series has reportedly become the second most popular Apple TV+ show.

Accolades

References

External links

* – official site * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defending Jacob 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American drama television miniseries English-language television shows Apple TV+ original programming Television series by Anonymous Content Television series by Paramount Television Television shows filmed in Massachusetts Television shows based on American novels Television shows set in Massachusetts