Fortysomething (Acorn Media DVD/British TV Comedy)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: D Episodes: C
This
reviewer is a huge Hugh Laurie fan, mostly having discovered him after he
appeared as the disgruntled doctor on FOX’s House MD (reviewed elsewhere on this site). As this reviewer discovered, Laurie’s acting chops extend far beyond
the medical world having done such fantastic things as Jeeves and Wooster; but whereas Laurie’s acting abilities can bring
light to even the drabbest role, the series Fortysomething did nothing to impress this reviewer.
There are
6 episodes on the series Fortysomething
and none of them are impressive. The
basic plotline is that Hugh Laurie as Dr. Paul Slippery (yes another doctor role)
wakes up at 45 and realizes his life is in total disarray. Slippery’s wife (Anna Chancellor) is out
looking for a job that she never gets, his two eldest boys are arguing
constantly on who is going to shag a certain girl, and his youngest son is
building a tower of traffic cones he declares to be ‘My Penis;’ ok I thought
that last one was hilarious. As Slippery
seemingly floats through his world like a ghost, more and more chaos and even
fantasy unwinds around him. His
colleagues are off killing patients and hitting on his wife, while the patients
are off being crazier than ever.
Slippery then begins to hear peoples’ thoughts and is more than sure
that he ready for a nervous breakdown.
With a family that mocks him and colleagues that disgust him, Slippery
is tangled in a world that torments him to no end and the only question now is
will he make it to Fiftysomething?
The
series concept has the making of dark comedy gold, but the manner in which the
series is executed did nothing for this reviewer. This reviewer was hoping for something more
along the lines of the now canceled Arrested
Development about a different dysfunctional family, but it turned out to be
a little too British for its own good.
If anything I felt worse for Slippery (Laurie) than I ever laughed. Who knows?
Maybe American families are funnier in their dysfunctional lives than
the British.
The
technical features of this release adequately slide by with solid picture and a
basic soundtrack. The picture is
presented in a solid, crisp, bright, and clear 1.78 X 1 Widescreen that looks
great for a television production. The
sound is solid but nothing fancy in is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. The extras are nonexistent, but that did not
disappoint this reviewer too much, even after viewing the entire series.
If you
need your dose of Hugh Laurie at his best, watch him as a better American doctor
on HOUSE MD. The British doctors seem to have too much
emotion; us Americans are to busy being hopped-up on Vicodin for emotion.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
