There have been some excellent series lately. And then there’s been My Brilliant Friend. Based on the Elena Ferrante Neopolitan novels, this is a glorious piece of profound, searing beauty.
Now that all 8 episodes have dropped on Hulu, this gangbuster of a series makes for a terrific binge. Because this story of true, brutal ambition is impossible to stop watching.
This erotic thriller is the kind of flick that will make you ache for the days when you could hang out in the theater lobby afterwards and talk it out. Because while this one may or may not run deep, it’s fun enough to want to hash out, even if the fun in watching just skims the surface.
Improbable, goofy and plucked from the playbook, there’s still something irresistible about this high gloss rom-com. And, for all the cutesy stuff begging for your approval, what really makes this one work is its undeniable star, Jennifer Lopez.
What could have been a somewhat interesting scientific journey, searching for a whale on its own in the vast seas, casts even wider ripples as it hits the screen today, during a time when so many of us feel cut off from our own, lonely and hungry for community.
What was probably a well intentioned distaff take on the standard spy action picture feels more like an adequate throwback. Not smart enough to be a satire, not convinced enough to come at us like the real thing. It’s somewhere in the middle. And, right now, for some, that might not be so terrible.