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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Pilot was Exceptional, September 26, 2011
This review is from: The Big C Season 1 (Amazon Instant Video)
I am generally a fan of this actress' work (although her name escapes me). This is a great, fresh series. One of my favorite lines from a film comes from this film: "There is a reason fat girls are nice. You can't be fat and mean." This from a summer school teacher to a jaded, very obese student in from of the class. The quirky, anti-materialist brother, the clingy husband, the obnoxiously defiant son- all get a dose of no-holes-barred-I'm-gonna-die-so-to-hell-with-the-pretense treatment. I can't wait to see more.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
My extended family, January 19, 2012
This review is from: The Big C Season 1 (Amazon Instant Video)
This show is a dark drama that shows how cancer is dealt with from all angles on ones diagnosis. I love the raw sarcasm and the humor that this story possesses. I have fallen in love with each character and eager to see what the next season has to offer. I have made my closest friends and family big fans as well. Each episode is 30 minutes long, so it's easy to get through on a tight schedule. Oh....and be prepared, the season finale is a real tear-jerker! Get the tissues!
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2.0 out of 5 stars
The Inmates Are Running The Asylum--A Great Premise Undermined By Contrived Wackiness, December 14, 2011
This review is from: The Big C Season 1 (Amazon Instant Video)
There is no show that I thought had more promise than "The Big C." The premise is spot-on compelling, the cast impressive, and Laura Linney is one of the greats! And while I found the first episodes a bit chaotic, I held out hope. With Linney as the centerpiece, there was no way "The Big C" could fail. As the show progressed, however, there became less and less consistency, more and more lunacy, and a complete lack of believability that chilled my goodwill beyond reason. I expect I'll get all kinds of negative feedback for this commentary, but I watch and enjoy all of Showtime's female centric comedies--"Weeds" (once great, but struggling creatively), "Nurse Jackie" (solid, if somewhat overpraised), and "The United States of Tara" (uneven, but improved before its finale)--and "The Big C" definitely stands out in comparison, but not in a good way. Contrived for maximum "hilarity," its over-the-top antics were almost unbearable in their preciousness.
It's difficult to be critical of "The Big C" because there are some viewers that will inherently embrace its very real emotional core. However, I contend that the show uses the concept but doesn't develop it beyond slapstick shenanigans. That might even be fine if the show was humorous (it tries more often than not for shock) and the characters were likable or even remotely believable. Not so. Linney plays a uptight wife and mother who discovers she has cancer. Her decision, initially, is to keep the secret, resist treatment, and live out her remaining time embracing life. This has the potential to be so funny and so moving--neither word would I use to describe "The Big C."
As control-freak Linney, from episode one, starts behaving completely against type (so we're told)--no one really even notices. Her husband, son, and brother continuously reference this straight laced character she was, but don't seem to acknowledge that she's flipped her lid. Maybe they're too busy playing over-the-top quirk (as every character hails from the planet of Quirk) to notice. Oliver Platt, as her husband, is fun--but his character is so inconsistent that you never identify him as real or their relationship as sustainable. There is also a sassy student (Gabourey Sidibe) and a wacky neighbor (Phyllis Somerville) on hand to spar with Linney. They don't ground the action--they just increase the nuttiness. Somerville, a great actress, is particularly stranded. Some weeks she is emotional support, other times crazy as a loon (she went from being violently racist one week to hugging a homeless person the next). Which leaves the most obnoxious and unbelievable character yet--Linney's brother (John Benjamin Hickey, another good actor) as a homeless activist. Hickey may just be saddled with one of the most patently ridiculous characters on TV.
This leaves Linney. As the heart and soul of the show, she starts out as the solid center. But as the episodes progress, she devolves like everyone else. I wanted to be a part of her journey but I was consistently alienated by the show's overdrive lunacy. "The Big C" needs to be grounded. I understand it's goal is to be somewhat controversial in presenting this subject matter in a different way--but we need characters that we can believe in if there is to be any real emotional payoff. At the end, many people think the season's final revelations are enough to forgive the entire series of its inconsistencies, but I'm not a believer. The single biggest disappointment of my TV season--but I'll look forward to Linney in the next big project! KGHarris, 10/10.
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