Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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66 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible Serious. Downright Captivatingly Real., March 20, 2008
The palette this series uses to paint emotive, empathic, and richly textured profiles of real problems with people has an alluring and self-therapeutic effect. This sounds cheesy, but after a few episodes you grow and feel a kinship with the characters.
I don't know how to describe how amazingly real this series is. As someone's not only studied therapy and psychology academically, but who has also been "in treatment" for over 100 hours, this is the closest thing to real thing. Byrne is exceptional. Wise, smooth, suave, composed, compassiaonte, and real. His supporting cast (the patients) are equally captivating.
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60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Show Where All The Action Takes Place Within The Human Heart, April 13, 2008
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.
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44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GET TREATED!, March 25, 2008
For some reason I had some resistance to watching this new series from HBO. Was it going to be so-so like "Tell Me You Love Me"? Was it another "John From Cincinnati" that only 10% of it's viewing audience understood (or cared about)?
Where was the next "Soprano's", "Six Feet Under", "Sex in the City"? Why was I even getting HBO - I've seen their movies over and over and anything new was not anything I wanted to see so as a last ditch effort to convince myself that I "needed" HBO, one cold and rainy Saturday, I decided to give "In Treatment" a chance (I have onDemand and had access to 7 of the 9 weeks of "sessions" thus far).
The deal was I only had to watch one or two of the 30 minutes episodes. If I didn't like it, at least I could say that I gave it a chance. Okay, you already know the obvious based on my title of this review how much I liked it, but I need to state it again, GET TREATED! It's that great. Beyond great as a matter of fact.
We get to follow the week-to-week therapy sessions of 4 individuals (including the therapist) and one couple. If you've ever been to therapy, it's an instant recognition of the process. If you want to spend time with an incredible drama with the sharpest, most relatable writing and actors that can't convince me they aren't actors but real players for the entertainment of us "flies on the wall", then this might be a series for you. Gabriel Byrne, who portrays the therapist is phenomenal.
Does it sound normal that a person should get depressed and want to go into therapy to discuss why this season ending should affect me so? Call me crazy and make me an appointment!
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