6A - Monday, September 30, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com

6A - Monday, September 30, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

itM R E V IE W
Witty, gr
dramedy

Gandolfini and
Louis-Dreyfus give
layered performances
BY ANDREW MCCLURE
Daily Arts Writer
One of the unspoken laws
of being a faux-polite, shitbag
teenager is the obligatory laugh in
response to an
adult's lethally A-
unfunny
remark. I found Enough Said
myself jaw-ajar Atthe
at how many At
50-something Michigan
theatergoers Fox Searchlight
wizzed their
diapers at this
breed of adult humor in "Enough
Said." Old people aren't funny, I
mused. It captured the age-old
social disconnect between over-
sexed youth and over-grayed
elderly. Soft-shelled yet emotively
dense, one of James Gandolfini's
final pictures reminds us of how
marriage and divorce each tell a
remarkably similar narrative and
how humor is relative.
Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener
("Please Give") convinces viewers
that she has been happily divorced
then reluctantly remarried
umpteen times. She knows
divorce and she knows it well
- from the subtle yearnings for
something better to the wrinkly
irritability that comes with age.
We suffer a real dilemma: We
want everlastingyouthbecause of
its roll-with-the-punches energy,
yet adulthood offers a deliciously
fat dose of reality.
Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus,
"Planes") is a divorced masseuse
mothering a soon-to-be high
school grad who hauls her
mammoth black trunk full of
massage gear anywhere the
demand calls. Her clients vary
from gingivitis mouth-breathers
and garrulous soccer moms to
unaware 20-something jocks.

Actual legends.
Eva's friend Sara
"Little Miss Su
her to a cocktail
meets two signifi
First, a new+
(Catherine Ke
who writes poet
something Eva
fun at: "Oh, so
a poet?" But m
a new love in
with Albert (Ja
"Killing Them
agree on the col,
everybody atthe
Eva grows close
friend and girlfri
This gossip and s
to Eva's knit-in-h
Then shit hits th
Marianne and
each other not to
Cool pick, Eva
The supporti
razor wit, a con
balance of mind
disillusioned
and Gandolfi
character creat
subplot of t
herself and h
hired-back hou
accuses her of p
shit" in randor
hairbrushes wi
equally whiny
Falcone, "What,
You're Expecting
desire to be mar
"who likes hist

itty
in 'Said'
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
h (Tot Collette, Collette retorts, "Hiiiistory?
nshine") invites What!" It's become a convention
party where she that the second-most important
cant people. couple draws bigger laughs.
client Marianne Synergy between Louis-
ener, "Cyrus") Dreyfus and Gandolfini as new
ry for a living - lovers leaves an indelible mark
pokes innocent with dry humor and recess-
you're actually like playfulness as the key stain
ore importantly, agents. They bust each other's
terest develops balls over innocuous things like
omes Gandolfini, their children heading to college,
Softly") as they eating habits and a penchant for
ective ugliness of "real boobs." Here's the thing,
party. With time, though: They're adorable in the
to each one as a way your grandmamma would
end, respectively, describe it. Again, they don't
ex add buoyancy spoon-feed us a funny every other
ier-free-time life. line. In fact, these two embody
e fan: Turns out real people, people who don't
Albert divorced wield ready-to-fire witticisms on
o long ago. their utility belts at all times. As
i. Cool pick. viewers expecting a funny pit,
ng cast lends a we're charmingly surprised by
science, even a the pair's genuine moments of
I to our slightly awkwardness, frustration and
Louis-Dreyfus swallow-your-spit anxiety. It's
ni. Collette's just naturalistic.
:es a thematic Hyperrealistic predecessors
rust between like Tom McCarthy's "Win,
ier fired-then- Win" or Noah Baumbach's
semaid as she "Greenberg" sold us before. At
rutting "random the compromise of a few cheap,
a drawers, like out-of-context, highly contrived
ith forks. Her jokes that many dramedies shove
husband (Ben into their scripts, "Enough Said"
to Expect When rather lets the surface humor
g") grumbles his coexist with normal, kind of
ried to someone uninteresting conversation that,
ory." To which guess what, most people have.
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4

A "Boston Legal" alternate ending.
James Spader mystifies
on intriguing 'Blacklist'

4

By ALEC STERN FBI doesn't even know they exist.
Daily Arts Writer He'll cooperate with the FBI and
help track down the various
Procedurals have long been criminals and terrorists under
the staple of network television, one condition: He'll only talk with
providing viewers with close- rookie profiler Elizabeth Keen
ended, (Megan Boone, "Law & Order:
hour-long LA"). During the pilot episode,
installments Red and Keen track down a
and providing The Blacklist terrorist and stop an imminent
studios with attack in Washington D.C.
endless rerun Pilot The looming question
potential. Mondays at throughout the first hour of "The
Given the 10 p.m. Blacklist" is why Red would
minor success only want to speak with Keen,
of NBC's NBC a seemingly insignificant FBI
"Chicago Fire" operative. This question drives
last season, most of the narrative and of
it's no surprise the Peacock is course, remains unanswered.
continuing to embrace the format. What would be too easy is if Red
This season, NBC will debut is Keen's father, the most obvious
"Ironside," a remake of the 1967 of possibilities - especially given
series, and "Chicago PD," a spinoff the fact that Red abandoned his
of "Chicago Fire." NBC also wife and daughter and Keen's
already debuted "The Blacklist," father left when she was young.
one of the most buzzed-about new While working with Red, Keen
dramas. Despite incorporating discovers that her husband might
genre tropes and cliches at almost not be who he says he is, another
every turn, "The Blacklist" is possible explanation for Red's
intriguing enough to warrant a fascination with her.
second look. James Spader is by far the best
"The Blacklist" stars James thing about this series. Much like
Spader ("Boston Legal") as on ABC's "The Practice" and its
Raymond "Red" Reddington, spinoff "Boston Legal," Spader's
one of the country's most wanted presence is captivating. His
criminals who mysteriously gives performance is so perfected that
himself up. He claims to have a it's as if he's been playing Red for
list of criminals so dangerous, the years. Spader is extremely fun to

watch and at times, makes "The
Blacklist" seem like more than '
typical genre fare.
What Spader can'tfix, however,
is the predictable action. If you've
ever seen "CSI" or "24," then
you've seen the FBI track down
a terrorist and foil his plan just as
time runs out. Despite Spader's
best efforts, there's no hiding
the fact that's exactly what "The
Blacklist" is - typical genre fare.
The action sequences are familiar
and the climax is obvious.
Intriguing but
derivative.
"The Blacklist" is actually at its
finest when the titular blacklist is
not in play. The dramatic through
lines and unanswered questions
(Why would Red give himself up?
Who exactly is Keen's husband?)
are what will peak viewers
interest most - not who's next on
Red's list. It will be interesting to
see how the series balances both
its procedural and serialized
elements. If creator/writer Jon
Bokenkamp ("Taking Lives") can 4
find the right mix, NBC could
potentially have a big hit on its
hands.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossw
Edited by Ricb Norris and Joyce Nichols 1A
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8 "Cultured" gem 8 Exercisesudone in 42 Baba of folklore
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(c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

'HIMYM' cast finds
chemistry with the Mother

By DREW MARON
For the Daily
After nine seasons of slap bets
and bro codes, the MacLaren's
gang finally meets - wait for it
- the Mother!
And while B+
the character
remains HowI Met
nameless, Your Mother
actress Cristin
Milioti ("The Season nine
Brass Teapot"), premiere
who plays the
mysterious Monda.s
Mother, is at 8p.m.
sure to build CBS
a reputation
as one of the
breakoutstarsof2013.
It's unclear how much planning
"How I Met Your Mother"
creators Craig Thomas and Carter
Bays had when the show first got
picked up in 2005, but it's hard
not to feel like Milioti's been a part
of this story the whole time. Her
instant charisma, charm, humor
and, above all, chemistry with Lily
put to rest all complaints about the
Mother's anti-climactic reveal at
the end of last season.
What really works is that
Milioti's Mother isn't just a plot
device anymore, she's an actual
character. Her scenes with Lily
are sure to make fans fall in love
with her just as they have with.
Ted, Robin, Marshall, Barney and
Lily. Milioti might be unknown
now, but with roles in upcoming
films like Martin Scorsese's "The
Wolf of Wall Street," people should
definitely expect the future Mrs.
Ted Mosby to pop up in a few more

4

I

CBS
Bathroom hang?
places than the Farhampton train with Marshall's new nemesis,
station. a disgruntled fellow plane
passenger played by Sherri
Shepherd ("30 Rock").
W e don't have The season premiere signals
thebeginning of the end for
a name, but we "HIMYM," and it's a bittersweet
occasion at that. Most people feel
have a face and like the show's high points have
come and gone. Like another
plenty of charm . recently wrapped fan-favorite, 4
"Dexter," the show's finale will
go out with a whimper instead of
a bang. We really won't know the
As one might expect, with truth until that fateful encounter
such a monumental reveal, the in Farhampton, but the show is
rest of the storylines feel small once again off to a strong start,
in comparison. Even though moving things towards the finish 4
it doesn't tie in directly with line instead of just biding time.
anything else, the "Robin and Here's to praying that Milioti's
Barney might be cousins" Mother continues to inject life
storyline earned the most back into a terrific series that
laughs, while it's anyone's guess deserves the legendary ending
what direction they might go fans have been waiting for.