All About Movies

I am obviously not reviewing the DVD set because, as of this writing, it has not come out- but I'd just like to make a few comments on the series I viewed on television.

This is a powerful, deeply moving, intelligent, emotionally nuanced series. Consisting of nothing more than psychotherapy sessions between a cast of reoccuring characters, this show fills an important niche missing from most television: the richness, complexity, and heartbreak of the "emotional life."

Are you tired of seeing thin, carbon-copied and cliched characters in movies and television shows? Then this is the perfect series for you, because here the whole point is to explore the inner lives of the characters.

Does the the fact that this series focuses a great deal on the emotions of the characters mean that there is no "action?" Only if you define "action" as soley encompassing explosions or giant robot attacks.

To me, however, there was more action in this show than almost any other I've seen: there was the complexity of coming to terms with the guilt of death, of a disintergrating marriage, of children torn between parents, of unrequieted love, of the intense pressures to be successful, of professional jealousy, of the quiet desperation of everyday life, and the pain and bravery of those trying to take control of their lives.

The writing is really quite incredible. I was time and again rivited by the ways in which the story tellers captured and traced the emotionally raw and complex workings of the human heart- the tangled web which constitutes human relationships.

Some detractors have said they find the characters "annoying:" these characters strike me as "real," for, in life, people are themselves complex and full of paradoxes, at times annoying but at others deeply sympathetic. I came to be involved with all the characters, and, in the end, they all suprised me, up until the very last episode.

The acting is also superb. Gabriel Byrne (as the therapist "Paul") gives the performance of his lifetime, and Mia Wasikowska gives a star making performance as "Sophie," a troubled gymnast.

This is a show for people who find themselves interested in the human mind and heart, particularly, in the complex ways in which we become entangled with our fellow human beings, and often punish ourselves, lie to ourselves, and hide from our own inner truths. What is the thrill of an asteroid threatening to destroy the Earth compared to the everyday struggle with such things as love, guilt, and the fear of facing another day on this planet.

Truly, one of the great shows I have seen- original, thought provoking, powerfully acted, intelligently written, and as deep and as rich a portrait of the human soul as we're likely to ever get on television.