Fleishman is in Trouble

Allow me to start with this gem of a show; one I have been suggesting to anyone and everyone I know and I have been receiving great feedback (as if I had anything to do with the production of the show or the book for that matter). It would require a lot of convincing for me to watch anything with Clare Danes in it. I cannot stand her over-acting and ever since Homeland she’s had the same headache-inducing effect on many viewers. And to think she once played Juliet next to Leo DiCaprio…

However, give me anything with Lizzy Caplan in it (Mean Girls, Masters of Sex) and I will ask no questions.

This miniseries adapted from a novel of the same name is a good one, especially for a binge.

The year is 2016 and Clinton has hopes of becoming the first female president. We meet three upper-middle-class Jewish New Yorkers who befriended each other during a life-changing trip to Israel two decades ago and are now grappling with the challenges of life, aka midlife crises, in some way or another. All in their forties, they suddenly realise they’re not “young” anymore (gulp) and they never will be forcing them to question all the choices they’ve made that have resulted in the exclusion of other options.

Although I have a bone to pick with the casting director for their choice for Rachel (Danes) I cannot deny that all other characters were played by actors who did not disappoint. Jesse Eisenberg is not my personal favourite but he does an impeccable job at playing a recently divorced and then abandoned forty-something-year-old Hepatologist whose life is abruptly turned upside down (the cinematography takes an on-the-nose approach to portraying this), not because of his separation per se, but due to the circumstances of his ex-wife’s mental health, or lack thereof.

Lizzy Caplan is just “chef’s kiss” where she plays one of the friends who is “happily” married to a lawyer (Josh Radnor) and living in the suburbs with their two kids. His midlife crisis is probably the one dealt with in the most articulate way, then again, she is the only main female character and if we know anything about men and their feelings and challenges, it’s that they not only don’t like to talk about them, they also do not have the vocabulary to do so.

And if Caplan is not enough to lure you into watching this, Adam Brody plays Seth (yes he returns with his The O.C. name) the fun-loving, money-making, forever single friend who realises that he’s sort of left behind in life.
Won’t give you more spoilers. Watch it and thank me later.

Available on Disney Plus.

You People

And then we have something a bit lighter, even if it’s not necessarily light in a topic. The genre is Romcom, I know, ew. But this one isn’t soppy and cliché even though it does have – spoiler alert- a happy ending.

The cast is absolutely amazing. I mean, Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, David Duchovny, Julia Louise Dreyfus, and newcomer, Lauren London.

The subject? Race, class, and religion in America. Basically, what it means to be a minority in today’s America and how it sometimes feels like a competition to show that you are the ones most suppressed. A couple from different races, religions, and economic classes is challenged by society and their family’s understanding of the other party’s experiences.
Although it is definitely in the genre of comedy, it does carry some interesting, conversations about the abovementioned topics.
Available on Netflix.

Welcome to Chippendales

This show started amazingly well and has caught my attention to an extent that I pushed back going to bed a whole two hours so I could watch several episodes. On a school night!

The is a true crime, biographical drama with a twist you wouldn’t expect. Inspired by real tragic events that started in the 70s, the story follows Indian immigrant Somen “Steve” Banerjee’s chase of the American Dream and his founding of the chain male stripper joint Chippendale’s, and later his involvement in several murders.

Dark, I know. Definitely worth a watch if you like the “dude comes to America following the American Dream, goes from rags to riches, fucks up, and commits murder”.
Available on Disney Plus.

Harlem

This show is not particularly good. The acting, the storyline, the plausibility, … It’s just naïve and immature. However, there are some issues raised that I found interesting. Topics such as black women’s hair, cultural appropriation, and the intense competition in Accademia especially for minorities and women.

They do their best to imitate Sex and the City (a very problematic show IMO) but in a post-woke post-me too setting where all characters are black and diverse in sexual orientation.

Quite a superficial show, yet as mentioned, it does discuss (even if briefly) some issues that have only recently been given importance.

Knives Out: Glass Onion

I’ll end this editions’ Bindulge with a hilarious murder mystery by suggesting the Netflix mystery/comedy. A sequel to Knives Out (although unrelated to the happenings of its predecessor), Daniel Craig plays a detective who finds himself in the middle of a very twisted game of solving a fake-later-turned-real murder mystery among a group of mismatched friends.

Think Hercule Poirot but American with a southern accent (bear with me, it’s not that bad) along with a group of random yet interconnected people hysterically trying to solve a crime, always looking over their shoulder thinking they’ll be next. Now imagine it funny…

Thanks for tuning in. Happy Bingeing!