Living with yourself (Netflix show with Paul Rudd and Aisling Bea)

[Timothy]

Premieres October on Netflix.

Seems interesting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5w54yW2Ur50

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Looks sort of Charlie Kaufman-lite. I expect it'll fill a similar niche to last year's Maniac, which was good but not quite essential viewing.

Still, Aisling Bea and two Paul Rudds? Count me in. 

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I watched this over the weekend. Did anyone else?

It was pretty good overall, but kind of ephemeral. Despite having dismissed Maniac above, it was at least memorable in a way I can't see this proving a year hence. Perhaps appropriately, given the premise, there seemed to be a bit of a duality thing going on, like it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. Sombre one moment and funny the next - though, unlike a lot of comedy dramas, when it was funny, it was actually funny. The production design in the cloning facility makes a half hearted attempt at visual stylisation, but the rest of the show is shot with an almost relentlessly dour palate.

Despite being the only other cast member in the main credits, Aisling Bea doesn't really come into focus until the latter half of the series. Once she does, she gets some decent stuff to play, including one episode almost all to herself. Alia Shawkat and Jon Glaser turn up briefly, although they're mostly notable for sporting crew cuts that initially left me wondering where I knew them from. For the most part though, it is a one man (doubled) show and Rudd carries it well. His performance(s) might not be up there with Tatiana Maslany or Jeremy Irons, but nor does he just rely on hair and wardrobe to differentiate between the two characters. The show gets more interesting as both of them get more layers to their characterisation.

I reckon it's worth a punt, if you've got nothing else to do. And, let's face it, you don't.

[Cardenio I]

I think that's a fair review. I thought Rudd was really excellent, and Aisling Bea is always great, but there was something a little anaemic about it, like it never got to get going properly. For one, I'm still not entirely sure how Paul Rudd 1 ended up such a schlub, despite plenty of backstory-filling flashbacks. And there's a breeziness with which it sort of knowingly elides the big questions thrown up by the very premise of this cloning spa that I sort of admired and was irritated by in equal measure. Like a lot of dramedies, especially at the high concept end, there's no sense that this world can possibly exist beyond the action of the very narrow set of characters (Rudd, Rudd and Bea) we are invited to care about. But then, it doesn't have to.

All that said, the central performances really were very good, there's some zippy dialogue, laugh out loud moments, and some bits that genuinely touch on the heartbreaking (though I'm always a sucker for a depiction of a romantic relationship
in turmoil. One for the therapists couch, that).

At such a short runtime I think it's definitely worth a watch - I was enjoying myself throughout and there's more than enough there to have me interested in a series two.

Edit to add: normally I"m quite weary of shows hopping about chronologically. I think in the modern TV landscape it's a bit of a crutch and can be used to cover a plot that ain't all that compelling. But I thought it really worked here, and I enjoyed the way it's narrative to-ing and fro-ing served as a sort of structural manifestation of the thematic dualism.

[Icehaven]

I enjoyed it but I thought the last episode was a bit rubbish, the dead end of the FDA being the kidnappers (I thought it was going to be the rival ad agency) and the all too predictable pregnancy. It's obviously going to get a second series (I think, although who really knows in this crazy cancel happy multi streaming platform world) and I daresay I'll watch it but I bet I've forgotten virtually everything about it by the time that happens. 3/5.

[jobotic]

It really got on my nerves.