Everyone in Jeff's life deals with the results of the speech he made on national television.Everyone in Jeff's life deals with the results of the speech he made on national television.Everyone in Jeff's life deals with the results of the speech he made on national television.
Louis Ozawa
- Mr. Pickles-San
- (as Louis Ozawa Changchien)
Storyline
Did you know
- SoundtracksPSA
Performed by Stige
Featured review
Season One Review.
Though not necessarily what I was anticipating I really enjoyed the first season of Kidding.
Jim Carrey plays Jeff Pickles, a quiet and sensitive man whose, puppet based children's TV show has generated a multimillion dollar empire that his family (particularly his father, played by Frank Langella) control. His marriage has ended though, unable to survive the death of one of his twin sons in a motor vehicle accident. The series follows Jeff's reactions to the tragedies and further setbacks and betrayals that befall him.
If that synopsis makes it sound depressing or dry, the first thing I should say is that "Kidding" is regularly very funny, more funny that the dramedy tag that seems attached to it would suggest. Though it's not written by Kaufman, the tone is very much of the sort of films that he and Michel Gondry was making a few years ago - particularly, and most obviously "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind". There is a "not quite the real world" feeling to the piece - as aspects of the puppet show blend back and forth with real life. One more word on the tone, it's is very much not a family friendly piece. There are numerous sex scenes, drug taking and bad language across the series.
What it does have are genuinely staggering performances. Judy Greer and Catherine Keener are phenomenal. They always are, but here are real characters for the two of them to dig into, rather than purely comic ones. Jim Carrey outshines both of them though - it's a performance of subtlety and melancholy that you just wouldn't believe came from the same man who hammed his way through "Ace Ventura" and "Batman Forever". But even Carrey isn't, for me, the best performance in the show. Frank Langella, enjoying and continuing the career resurgence that began with "Frost/Nixon" and continued in "The Americans" is remarkable in the role of "Seb", trying to maintain his son's mental stability both for the sake of him, but also the show and the media empire that comes with it.
If I have concerns, it's that I'm not sure whether a second season is entirely necessary. I feel like a lot of the potential story was mined for this first season, and It'll be impressive if they can maintain it all again for another run. But that's a concern to be addressed in my season two review - until then, this was a joy.
Jim Carrey plays Jeff Pickles, a quiet and sensitive man whose, puppet based children's TV show has generated a multimillion dollar empire that his family (particularly his father, played by Frank Langella) control. His marriage has ended though, unable to survive the death of one of his twin sons in a motor vehicle accident. The series follows Jeff's reactions to the tragedies and further setbacks and betrayals that befall him.
If that synopsis makes it sound depressing or dry, the first thing I should say is that "Kidding" is regularly very funny, more funny that the dramedy tag that seems attached to it would suggest. Though it's not written by Kaufman, the tone is very much of the sort of films that he and Michel Gondry was making a few years ago - particularly, and most obviously "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind". There is a "not quite the real world" feeling to the piece - as aspects of the puppet show blend back and forth with real life. One more word on the tone, it's is very much not a family friendly piece. There are numerous sex scenes, drug taking and bad language across the series.
What it does have are genuinely staggering performances. Judy Greer and Catherine Keener are phenomenal. They always are, but here are real characters for the two of them to dig into, rather than purely comic ones. Jim Carrey outshines both of them though - it's a performance of subtlety and melancholy that you just wouldn't believe came from the same man who hammed his way through "Ace Ventura" and "Batman Forever". But even Carrey isn't, for me, the best performance in the show. Frank Langella, enjoying and continuing the career resurgence that began with "Frost/Nixon" and continued in "The Americans" is remarkable in the role of "Seb", trying to maintain his son's mental stability both for the sake of him, but also the show and the media empire that comes with it.
If I have concerns, it's that I'm not sure whether a second season is entirely necessary. I feel like a lot of the potential story was mined for this first season, and It'll be impressive if they can maintain it all again for another run. But that's a concern to be addressed in my season two review - until then, this was a joy.
helpful•80
- southdavid
- Jan 4, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA(Mr. Pickles' Christmas Tree lighting speech stage)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime27 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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