What’s Netflix’s A Man in Full about? Cast, Rotten Tomatoes & more

Netflix’s answer to Succession has just dropped: A Man in Full, a new drama series starring Jeff Daniels from the creator of Big Little Lies.

With Succession ending last year, it may have become one of the best binge-worthy TV shows you can watch in full — but it’s left a pop culture hole that’s proven hard to plug.

However, from the outset, it seems like Netflix may have a watchable substitute: A Man in Full, the new TV show from David E. Kelley, the man behind hits like Big Little Lies, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Reviews have been mixed so far, but with the series dropping on the streaming platform just in time for the weekend, here’s everything you should know before you press play.

What is A Man in Full about?

A Man in Full follows Charlie Croker, a high-flying real estate mogul in Atlanta facing bankruptcy. As the vultures close in, he fights to retain his grip on his empire and claw his way back to the top.

It’s based Tom Wolfe’s bestselling 1998 novel, and while it may not be as concerned with inter-family squabbling like Succession, it’s easy to see the comparisons: it revolves around a rich man and the people who want his place atop Atlanta’s hierarchy of power, all sharpening their elbows to get ahead of one another.

In the trailer, Croker is described as the “biggest hero of real estate” in the city, but even as he’s going broke, he refuses to go down without a fight. “You want to take your shot, you better make it your best one… nothing can kill me. I’m not sure who the hell you think you’re taking to,” he warns.

You can expect sex, Machiavellian twists and turns, and pithy dialogue too; in one scene, a character tells Croker: “It would be insensitive to fight you given your diagnosis… we got a hold of your medical records. It turns out you’re a p*ssy.”

Who’s in the A Man in Full cast?

Netflix

Jeff Daniels leads the cast of A Man in Full, playing Charlie Croker. Other stars include:

• Diane Lane as Martha Crocker, Charlie’s ex-wife whose “rebuild poses a threat both personally and financially — three decades of marriage comes with baggage.”
• Lucy Liu as Joyce Newman, the founder of clean beauty company who “struggles with a crisis of conscience” that may upend other business ventures.
• Tom Pelphrey as Raymond Peepgrass, a “lowly loan officer on the verge of personal and professional chaos” with a dangerous, vengeful streak.
• Sarah Jones as Serena Crocker, Charlie’s second wife who’s “a voice of reason and a steadying force” as Charlie’s world falls apart.
• William Jackson Harper as Wes Jordan, Atlanta’s mayor who’s preparing for re-election.
• Aml Ameen as Roger White, a lawyer for Croker Industries who gets caught up in Charlie’s mess.
• Jon Michael Hill as Conrad Hensley, an employee of Croker Industries.
• Chanté Adams as Jill Hensley, Conrad’s wife and Charlie’s executive assistant.

While Daniels may still be widely known for his performance in Dumb and Dumber alongside Jim Carrey, his dramatic pedigree speaks for itself: he played Will McAvoy in Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, as well as appearing in Looper, Steve Jobs, The Martian, and Godless.

In an interview with Screen Rant, the actor explained his process for playing a nasty piece of work like Charlie. “It’s a challenge, it’s kind of a basic tenant of acting, if you’re playing a villain, you try to find some good in them, and if you’re playing a hero, you try to find a couple of weaknesses,” he said.

“And it’s similar with Charlie, he comes to it, it certainly isn’t there in the first episode or two, that’s for sure. He’s blind to his own idiocy, and obliviousness to anyone and anything around him, other than himself. He comes to it, he gets to it, I think David kind of helped the book that way.

“He kind of steered Charlie to a little bit of humanity by the end, certainly with his son, and even with his young wife, he kind of gets to it. But that’s what makes it challenging and fun and complicated, and not just, ‘Here are the heroes and here are the villains.'”

A Man in Full Rotten Tomatoes score

Netflix

A Man in Full currently has a 52% Rotten Tomatoes score, with an even lower audience rating of 43%.

In a two-star review, The Daily Telegraph wrote: “There are hints of Succession — family troubles, talk of money, Croker yelling about ‘the Boeing’ — but the series is nowhere near the same league. You wait for the drama to ramp up but it never quite does.”

USA Today gave a similarly negative review, writing: “There’s a sense that Netflix was attempting to cash in on the lifestyles of the rich and famous schadenfreude from HBO’s hit Succession, which ended last year. But Man fails to achieve the scope or satire that made Succession so successful.”

That said, there have been positive reviews — and they all highlight Daniel’s performance. “A Man in Full, the Netflix version, is definitely fun and well made, and Daniels alone makes it worth watching. It aims lower than the novel, and mostly hits its mark,” the Arizona Republic wrote.

“Really, the only reason to watch A Man In Full is to see Daniels swagger his way through six episodes as Charlie Croker,” Decider also noted.

Is A Man in Full based on a true story?

No, A Man in Full isn’t based on a true story. Charlie Croker is a fictional character created by Tom Wolfe.

In the meantime, you can check out our rundown of the best TV shows of 2024 so far.