Leverage

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

John Rogers and Chris Downey have created a show that's equally smart and diverting.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

So far, though, it keeps the techno-babble to a manageable level, and if it seems to owe more to other movies and shows than it does to real life, at least it's paying its debt in an entertaining fashion.

Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker

Don't think Leverage is preachy--it's shrewdly conceived, and it moves along like a son of a gun.

NewsdayVerne Gay

Leverage's pilot is particularly entertaining. The cast is fine, direction is expert, writing above average, and Hutton's Ford is almost convincing. But the payoff feels laden with cheese of another sort.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

Even when Leverage flirts with serious issues, including the mistreatment of an Army reservist who is shot in Iraq by a private contractor, the dramatic tone is whimsical and tongue in cheek. This motley crew is a kind of guerilla comedy troupe that can pick pockets and empty bank accounts, too.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

The action is swift, the patter is clever, the casting is smart and the special effects are nimble, all of which adds up to a flashy hour of fun.

Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart

The secret to the show’s success is not any of the overly familiar parts, but the nutty way Leverage throws them together. Also, Hutton is a great actor who generates plenty of crackle between Nate and his fellow fleecers.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

Though the pace is zippy and a fair amount of the dialogue is snappy, Hutton brings a distracted, melancholy air to the proceedings, which doesn’t slow things down -- his nuanced performance keeps the show on an even keel.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

Leverage isn’t quite as effortlessly intoxicating--it must make do with the dependable but suave-challenged Timothy Hutton--but when it works, the TNT series has a rascally tingle.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

The show fails only when it wants to make you feel something warm about their mission, rather than just letting you enjoy the icy suspense and snappy dialogue.

Washington PostTom Shales

Although it starts out on a glib, dopey note--as "Mission: Preposterous" crossed with "Ocean's Eleven"--the new TNT series Leverage develops with surprising swiftness into a decent, watchable action drama about wrongs being righted and bad guys getting what's coming to them.

Wall Street JournalStaff (Not Credited)

The choice of villains is unoriginal, if predictably lazy: Think greedy corporations. That tedium aside, there's a cast both likeable and great to look at.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

The new TNT drama Leverage isn't a great show, but it may just be the exact right show at the exact right time.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

Once TNT's new Leverage scrambles to its feet, it becomes an adept, fast-moving adventure yarn built on the familiar but serviceable premise that justice sometimes isn't best served through legitimate channels.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Aside from an easygoing quality and mild comic flair, there's not much here to steal the hearts of viewers; instead, it's another modest, lightweight addition to TNT's diner-style menu of comfort food for a weary nation.

New York PostLinda Stasi

All in all, even with an accomplished actor like Hutton, there's nothing special to set Leverage apart from other cookie-cutter dramas of this ilk.

San Francisco ChronicleDavid Wiegand

Leverage is far from great TV and not even close to really good TV, but when the bad-turned-good guys team up to do their thing, it's a passably entertaining way to spend an hour.

The New York TimesVirginia Heffernan

Leverage winds up seeming merely anachronistic, wrapping up with a cute resolution each week, the swine in handcuffs, not torn from the private hockey rinks of their Aspen vacation homes.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

Viewers who value character development, logic and plot consistency will be disappointed by this series that's sloppy when it comes to all three. It's often more concerned with looking cool and fun than making sense.