Change Your Image
hambletta-maud
Reviews
Lilyhammer (2012)
brilliant
I stumbled upon this by accident, purely because I had enjoyed Netflix's "Breaking Bad" and "House of Cards".
And how I have enjoyed it. I watched both series in two days. The main character, Frank, just made me laugh every time I saw his p***ed-off face, but the other characters - in fact, every single one of them - are just hilarious too: Sigrid, with the incredible blonde hair; Torgier, whose eyes expressive his every emotion; Jan, the sexist, racist NAV (immigrant support) worker. But in truth, every single character is fantastic. And even better, none of them was chosen for their good looks alone (sorry, cast). These are true character actors.
The plot, well, is filled with coincidences and accidents, but that's all part of the idea. This is a comedy of errors. We expect this. It won't put you off.
Wonderfully addictive stuff. I hope Netflix produce more and more of this stuff. It is viewing heaven.
Derek (2012)
not comedy, something more than comedy
My advice: Don't think of this as a comedy. Then you won't be expecting massive, great belly-busting laughs four-times-a-minute.
However, like the best of comedies, the humour is subtle, not to be expected. It's in a gesture, an odd turn-of-phrase, a mis-timed reaction, a bad hair-cut, an absolute human truth.
I hope this isn't a spoiler - if it is you're probably a Kardashian - but watching this series you will realise:
* old people are humans too * old people enjoy life * growing old is a privilege * life is short so use it wisely * people should value you * you should value people * you're a human, just like every other human on the planet
There are moments of pure joy. Eg. the whole party scene in episode 3 was perfectly observed. There are moments of sheer devastation. Eg. after the party, when the old people are asleep, dreaming, they see themselves as young again.
Gervais' observations of the human experience is wonderful. His direction is perfect, can't be faulted. There are very few who can do what he does well. One that springs to mind is Victoria Wood, although I'm sure others will disagree.
However, get one thought out of your mind. This is NOT a comedy series mocking autistic people. If you find that it is then you have had an Epic Fail.