I like Stoltz so I tuned in. He's good in this, but - WOW - Felicity Huffman is humming at a sky-high level here: she's better than the pretentious writing (who cares if Spielberg is across the soccer field watching his kid?). Gimmicks: talking fish and cats, camera and crew in a few shots. Blech. And the voice over is distracting instead of illuminating. Repetitious lines something like, "Oh, judge and jury out in TV land," minimized me into something I'm not. I say 86 the self-indulgent, rationalizing voice over and just let Stoltz act his heart out. Mature themes need mature voice over. It's not their mistakes keeping me from caring about these folks -- it's the style of the show. The William Goldman quote feels plunked in as if the writers just couldn't wait to use it. Coulda been done more seamlessly. The ending missed also -- too stylized, and the actors looked physically uncomfortable. That was distracting as well.
I got the point: we're all just humans, after all. I didn't need the movie to TELL me that; isn't that what ALL movies teach us? Good ones, anyway. No new news, here. I'm afraid the self-conscious writers have been out cast by these good actors. If this series continues I hope they drop the gimmicky stylized bells-and-whistles and simply let these actors have all the attention. Trust the talent. THEN it will be good. THEN I might be moved.
I got the point: we're all just humans, after all. I didn't need the movie to TELL me that; isn't that what ALL movies teach us? Good ones, anyway. No new news, here. I'm afraid the self-conscious writers have been out cast by these good actors. If this series continues I hope they drop the gimmicky stylized bells-and-whistles and simply let these actors have all the attention. Trust the talent. THEN it will be good. THEN I might be moved.