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carollynjames
Reviews
The Kids Are Alright (2018)
One of the all time
Finest sitcoms, ever. It's sooooo heartbreaking that it was cancelled. Every character is fully developed. Every line is clever, original, and well delivered. Listen, I'm an old jaded woman who has seen way too much television, but this show always makes me sit up straight and laugh out loud.
The Deuce (2017)
It Ain't the WIre
I was eager to see The Deuce. I mean, who doesn't love Maggie Gyllenhall and David Simon and handsome-pants James Franco. That, and porn and 1970s NYC? It couldn't miss. But, alas, it kinda does. It's obvious that Simon wanted to do the Wire again--bless his heart, gotta love 'im for it--but he didn't. He didn't because (1) we're watching movie stars be down and out and scuzzy (Ooooo, such great acting. At times, you can almost hear Franco say the same thing to himself as he gets to grandstand two parts. To be fair, however, Gyllenhall is genius and always credible.) And (2) there are not the writers for The Deuce that there were for The Wire. George Palencanos is a good, mediocre crime writer and when he was writing for the Wire, he was one of many. Here he is The Writer. What happens is that every scene is predictable and taken from something you've seen or read elsewhere. Even though porn is cool and NY is sleezy, there is little or no edge to the shows. But, again, Ms. Gyllenhall does her best and if it weren't for her, there would be no there there.
(3) While it's mildly interesting, you're not going to carry this show around after you turn it off. Again, it's not the Wire.
But it's not bad. It's just not great.