A Brian Cox Led Drama Has Taken Claim Of Netflix's Number One Spot

As random and arbitrary as Netflix's Top 10 can appear, it starts to become more predictable upon closer inspection. Like the media rental stores of ancient times (which were essentially the streaming services of their epoch), new Netflix originals inevitably rank high before dwindling off in the same way that Blockbusters would initially stock their shelves with roughly 10,000 copies of the latest tentpole. Along those same lines, viewers frequently play catchup right before a show returns by marathoning its previous season(s), which is how a cult Syfy comedy series like "Resident Alien" ends up charting seemingly out of the blue.

Then there are the under-the-radar titles that find their way onto Netflix only to be discovered anew by its users, much like a customer perusing the aisles of their local video rental shop and stumbling upon some previously ignored movie featuring one of their favorite actors. So it is that the Brian Cox-led "Mending the Line" — a film I'm willing to bet your bottom dollar that most people had no idea even existed until now — has found its way to the top of the Netflix charts. In fact, according to the viewership aggregator FlixPatrol, the humble drama made its way to sixth place in the U.S. on Netflix starting March 24, 2024, only to jump to number one for the next two days (and counting).

So, is "Mending the Line" another entry in the Evil Brian Cox Universe à la "X2: X-Men United," "The Bourne Identity," and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (or, for all you old-school Cox fans out there, "Manhunter")? No, as gratifying as it is whenever Cox plays the heel, the film instead casts the "Succession" actor as an archetypical curmudgeon with a heart of gold.

A distraught younger man suddenly finds the guidance he needs from an unlikely father figure? What "Mending the Line" lacks in originality, it apparently makes up for in execution, judging by the film's (mostly positive) reviews. "Power" and "American Soul" alum Sinqua Walls stars here as John Colter, an Afghanistan veteran who's struggling to heal from the wounds he sustained overseas (physical and mental alike). As he settles down into his newfound home in small-town Montana (which feels a tad redundant to write about a state where the largest city has just under 120,000 residents, but moving on), he finds an unexpected outlet for his traumas in fly-fishing, which he studies under the guidance of a gruff yet nurturing Vietnam vet named Ike Fletcher (Cox). So, in a sense, Cox plays nega-Logan Roy, i.e. a guy who helps others just because he can and hasn't allowed his personal demons to twist him into a terrible person.

Written and directed by Stephen Camelio and Joshua Caldwell, respectively, "Mending the Line" reads like something of a lighter spin on Lila Neugebauer's grounded PTSD drama "Causeway," complete with a subplot involving a potential love interest for John in the form of Lucy (Perry Mattfeld), a photographer-turned-librarian who assists recovering veterans and is still grieving from a tragic event in her own past. Still, even with its heavy-handed fishing metaphors and TV movie trappings, most critics give the film props for treating its subject matter with the TLC it warrants (that and its tranquil visuals of the real-life Montana countryside). No doubt, it also helps to have skillful character actors like Cox and Wes Studi bringing greater authenticity to its clichés.

Intrigued? Stream "Mending the Line" on Netflix and see what you think.