The Bannen Way Webseries Review
Anthony Letizia

While the webseries medium provides the opportunity for talented television wannabes to tell their stories, hone their skills and get the finished product out to the masses without having to play the Hollywood game, it also provides Hollywood insiders to likewise bypass the system and prove what they are capable of on their own. Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is the most prominent example, but The Bannen Way likewise demonstrates what media professionals can accomplish with talent, a handful of credit cards and calling in favors from connected friends.

The Bannen Way stars Mark Gantt—an industry veteran who has worked behind the scenes on over a hundred productions as well as created a dozen or so short films—as Neal Bannen, a small-time criminal trying to escape from his life of crime. Bannen’s “one last job” turns into more, however, when he loses the $150,000 he owes underworld boss Sonny Carr (Ski Carr) in a poker game and agrees to steal a mysterious box for his ruthless mobster uncle (Robert Forster) in order to get the money back. The assignment takes a turn for the worse when an attractive picket-pocket (Vanessa Marcil) seemingly double-crosses Bannen, the target of the theft (Michael Lerner) hires three female assassins to protect the box and Bannen’s police chief father (Michael Ironside) threatens his son with jail time.