Customer Reviews

The Big C

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

After finding out she has cancer, the main character learns about herself and starts to make some changes for the limited time she has. Funny, clever, different handling of a grim life event on film. Worth watching.

I was upset that it was just a preview and not the whole episode but Ive watched every epi of this show and its amazing.

I only watched the Pilot/Preview because it was offered for free on Amazon On Demand. I was pleasantly surprised to find I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I thought it was well cast and had a great story line. The writers of this show deserve awards for sure. I too have had cancer and today am considered 'cured'. So I had an easy time putting myself in the lead characters shoes. I like they way the writers chose to inject humor into a very serious situation. I highly recommend this show/series.

While the bleeps are irritating, Laura Linney is more than worth the look. She is just wonderful as the cancer victim who rushes out to face life while she has it.

I am someone who has had cancer so I found the premise of this show interesting. I have seen three episodes of this show and it is getting better and better. Kathy, played by Laura Linney, has stage 4 melanoma cancer and has been given a year to live. Linney does an excellent job with this role. She has a radical change in perspective and especially in the way she has been spending her time. Everyone handles cancer in his or her own way and her way is believable.

She separates from her husband because he has been draining her and now she has no more time to waste on being drained by someone else. She doesn't tell him of her cancer so he is completely baffled as to why his juvenile antics don't amuse her anymore. She has one son at home, a teenager, and suddenly she has no more patience with his antics either. She is determined to help him grow up in a hurry. She hasn't told him yet either about her cancer.

Four other characters are the best support though. One is her black student with a huge overweight problem. Kathy sets about saving her life. This is the actress who was in "Precious" and she does a wonderful job. The other is her brother, a guy who lives homeless by choice and is crusading against everything. The third is her cranky neighbor who slowly becomes her best friend for the coming ordeal. The last is the best friend's basset hound who has an affinity for people dying of cancer.

Although this has funny moments, I would not bill it as a comedy as Amazon has done.

The pilot episode of Showtime's "The Big C" as available on Amazon Video on Demand is censored. Curse words are silenced -- at first I thought my audio was dropping out, as this program has a lot of profanity. Who knows what else has been cut from the original broadcast version?

Why offer a version of the program that completely undermines its artistic integrity? I will, with 100% certainty, not be buying subsequent episodes via Amazon VOD... so glad they offered this free preview.

As to the content of the show, it seemed rather ho-hum (although I love Laura Linney, who deserves a better vehicle). But who can really tell without seeing the real deal?

Loved this show! Laura Linney was great, Oliver Platt was great, the premise is sympathetic and the actors carry it off well. This is a free preview, of course, and the curse words have been 'bleeped' out, presumably because minors can access it over the internet, but, really, who cares? Great job overall!