For a conspicuously busy superstar such as Samuel L. Jackson, the six-part Apple TV+ adaptation of Walter Mosley’s “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” demanded his largest, deepest commitment to a role in a long time. At some point, you either glide or you ask yourself “What’s in my wallet?” and risk a thing or two. What’s the point of money gigs and gold-plated franchises if not to reconnect with what sparked an actor’s ambitions in the first place?
Jackson serves as executive producer and star of “Ptolemy Grey,” which is based on the 2010 novel from the author made famous by the Easy Rawlins mysteries. There are mysteries aplenty in this story, and a legacy of murderous racism.
At heart, though, the present-day narrative is a wish fulfillment heartwarmer, stretched a bit and a little slack in the middle. A lot of what’s best about “Ptolemy Grey” is pretty simple and consistently rewarding: the interplay between Jackson and Dominique Fishback, who plays the teenage caregiver of the title character.
