Reviews

The main problem with this one is that is how inaccurate and dishonest it is. Almost all of it. The coupon scam was real, but the none of the characters or plot is. She was not a Olympic Gold medalist who was driven to this because she was broke and miscarried her baby because she is infertile. They only added those bits to manipulate the audience into making you feel sorry for/and sympathize with her willingly break the law. There were two other women that did it with her and they weren't influencers that had their lives ruined because of a hacker which also didn't exist. The FBI actually did investigate right away along with the USPS; I can go on and on about how the screenwriters completely made up most of this film in order to make it appealing and interesting.

The problem is, it was wholly unnecessary to do that. The story seems fascinating and interesting as it is. Why invent all of these characters and plot elements in order to manipulate the audience into liking the protagonist? Was it that Kristen and Vince wouldn't have done the movie if they didn't?

For these reasons, you can pass on this. It's hard to watch when you know that most of it isn't true. Plenty of other "based on a true story" crime dramas out there that at least can stay accurate.

When you see the title of this show, you roll your eyes and groan at yet another remake/reboot of an old property, until you watch to see that it's just in the title. That it's refreshingly and surprisingly different. That, aside from the title, it has nothing to do with the original movie.

The show is a blended mix of the concept The Americans as far as the sleeper agent married couple matched together to go on secret missions that wind up falling in love with each other, with heavy doses of the absurdist and surrealist action, humor, and takes of Atlanta and Killing Eve. Especially with the Atlanta and Killing Eve elements, since Hiro Murai directs a few episodes, while Phoebe Waller Bridge was originally meant to play Jane before she dropped out of the project. Glover's John is a facsimile of Earn from Atlanta while Erskine's Jane has shades of Eve from Killing Eve.

The show overall is very talky, but it weirdly works, particularly with so much conversation taking place during the first mission. And, unlike the original, there's much more of a slow burn in terms of understanding who these strangers are and how much of what they say is true. It would have been a hopeless task to replicate the scorching sexual tension between Pitt and Jolie (enough to break up Pitt and Anniston and send Pitt towards Angelina), so this show was right to not even try, but they do a good job of building up a budding romance between the two until it starts to fall apart as quickly as it grew and that's where the show's flaws start to happen.

The biggest flaw is that there are major shifts and whiplash in their relationship and the story in general as the show doesn't go into the detail as to the why it happens. It mostly happens all off-screen and it's fairly jarring. And unlike the original movie, these two are just not on the same page. Glover's John seems to be dumb, impulsive, and easily distracted, while Erskine seems like a corporate white collar careerist climbing the ladder more than a deadly spy. Neither seem to remember or care about the super dangerous situations they're in.

The action scenes are more perfunctory, which is also jarring since this is supposed to be an action/spy show. The baddies that show up have Storm Trooper aim and don't seem to serve any kind of purpose other than to have our couple shoot at things, as you never really feel that they are in any serious danger with a total lack of suspense and edge. There are lots of cameo appearances from great actors and actresses such as John Turturo, Ron Perlman, Sharon Horgan, Parker Posey, Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Dano, but they're wasted. Especially Dano, Turturo, Horgan, Posey, and Skarsgard. Only Perlman's episode and character works. The show's cinematography, style, and locations are nice though.

Despite it's mixed bag and heavy flaws, it's an enjoyable romp that deserves more seasons. I think the episodes should be longer in length in order to better flesh out the relationship, give these celebrity cameos more to do than to just give this show more star power, and add more action and make the action scenes more taught, gripping, and suspenseful to show how that impacts the relationship like it did in The Americans. They can also dispense with the chatbot handler and do some world building as far as explaining who this mysterious agency is and why they would want these two to do their dirty work. There is potential for this to be a great series with some better editing and work!

You've seen this before in Narcos, Queen of the South, etc, etc as far as the up and comer who hustles, kills his/her way to the top of being a wealthy and powerful drug kingpin before they fall. The problem with this one is how boring and inaccurate it is. That this is done under a "girl boss/power" tone in order to milk those female and feminist viewers instead of showing what a monster the real Griselda was.

How inaccurate? She was already major dealer and smuggler in New York during the 70s, but that was left out. Her gangster boyfriend from Oakland California, her time in prison, and the remainder of her life until her assassination in Medellin was also left out. Also oddly left out was her relationship with Escobar and Carlos Lehder as she was close to both of them. This is also a much light hearted story considering the real Griselda is supposed to be directly responsible for 250 murders in just ten years, but the show only depicts a fraction of that. She is largely portrayed in a sympathetic light as some struggling single mother trying to make it in a misogynist industry which is nonsense.

After the backlash Narcos got for not casting Colombians, I can see why they cast Sofi Vengara, but even with the prosthetics, she looks nothing like the real Griselda that looked more like Selena Gomez. The rest of the cast does an okay but a mostly forgettable job.

If you've got nothing else to watch, then sure, but you've seen this before in Queen of the South and you can pass.

For the last few years now, Netflix has been looking at the success Archer, Rick&Morty, Bobs Burgers, Family Guy/American Dad, Simpsons, etc, with envious eyes and wants to emulate and copy their success, by pumping at least one to two of these type of adult cartoon comedies once a year.

Unfortunately, they all follow the strategy and plan: they merely try to copy those aforementioned shows by being as dark, edgy, juvenile, violent, and vulgar as possible with some celebrity voice actors and great animation, while missing the characterization, intelligence, and wit that make those shows actually funny and beloved in the first place. The result always winds up the same: terribly unfunny, unlikable, unintelligent, and boring that nobody watches or cares about. Despite the review bombing efforts of the show's tiny amount of fans, it gets cancelled in it's second season. Netflix shrugs and tries again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Lesson not learned.

This show did so poorly, it didn't even finish its first season before it got canned. The plot and premise: about your typical cliche man-child, loser that gets hired by a secretive international crime ring to run their cruise line that's a cover for their illegal activities would've been interesting enough, but Captain Fall is such a painfully unfunny and unlikable character, it deflates it. There is no adjustment, change, or growth to his personality in reaction to his new life and surroundings; they just keep him emotionally stunted and naive in order to keep the endless and repetitive cringe jokes coming. Liza, as the typical femme fatale henchwoman, is mildly interesting. So much that I wish the focus should've been about her. There's a side plot about a police detective investing the cruise ship and crime ring, but he is also as immature, incompetent, and stunted as Fall is on purpose for the laughs. A lot of time and episodes are wasted on pointless side characters like Fall's annoying, pervert, brother; the detective's inept colleagues, and the victims of the crime ring that all mean and signify nothing at the end other than wasted time away from the main characters and plot and lots of tonal whiplash. Tonal whiplash as we're laughing in one scene, and feeling angry and sad at all of the rather preachy look at "look how awful the world is today" the show tries to do on the other. Another example of just how childish and juvenile this show is the name of the main villain, "Mr. Tyrant" that is a facsimile of Blofeld, Dr. Evil, and Dr. Claw. This is what millions of dollars of Netflix investment gets you.

Netflix doesn't want to learn it's lesson from Bojack Horseman, Disenchanted, and Big Mouth on how to do this right. Instead, it keeps copying from Hoops and Mulligan, never learning from those mistakes. Oh well. Netflix will continue to keep shoveling money into fire hoping that something will work. Maybe it will someday.