On Lasso and De Niro

Some Critical Commentary to begin the week....

TED LASSO (no spoilers)

 

The Apple TV series "Ted Lasso" ended last week after three delightful seasons.  I thought that i was a terrific ending to what has been a great series.  Jason Sudeikis' Ted went home to Kansas, AFC Richmond's season concluded on a high note, and all storylines were wrapped up in a wonderful montage played to the music of Cat Stevens' "Father and Son."  Yes, everyone I know who watched the series thought that Season 3 was, if perhaps not as great as the first two seasons, a delight nonetheless, and were quite charmed by the conclusion of the show.  However, as I alluded to in a post last week, the professional critics who praised the series at the outset, felt it was their obligation to tear it to shreds.  For example, the headline in a piece in Variety  stated "'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Was Unbearable".  Really? This is how the author of that piece, a pseudo-intellectual need Stephen Rodrick, opened his critique:

Now quarantine is long gone, and we are out in the world crammed into middle seats, intent on spending our last disposable dollar on Maui rentals and a down payment on a jet ski we definitely don’t need. “Lasso’s” recently completed third season joined the bacchanal. The show’s 12 episodes ran 650 MINUTES. That is 78 minutes longer than Krzystof Kieslowski’s “Dekalog,” which dealt with all 10 of the commandments.

Now that is a piece of high brow bullshit that really speaks to all of the mass audience to whom "Ted Lasso" appealed, isn't it?  I mean, who didn't think of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Dekalog" when watching "Ted Lasso", am I right?  And if you search the interwebs, you can find all sorts of similar critical rantings.

However, allow me to refer you to the write up of Jason Fraley.  He is an entertainment editor for WTOP in Washington DC, and I have come to know him through various podcasts and am happy to say that we have come to regularly exchange our views as Facebook Friends.  THIS PIECE by Jason hits the nail squarely on the head when it comes to "Ted Lasso", both in its entirety and in it's finale episode last week.  I think that you will enjoy it.

Here is another good (and favorable) recap that appeared in the New York Times.  Be advised, though that this piece contains spoilers, so if you haven't yet seen the final episode, you might want to delay reading this one.

So farewell, "Ted Lasso".  You will be missed, but  if that spin-off hinted at in the final scenes of the show ever comes about, I will be there, proudly wearing my AFC Richmond scarf.

Four Stars from The Grandstander for both the series and the Final Episode.

ABOUT MY FATHER

When I first saw the trailers for this, I figured that it was going to be one of those movies where the best of it would be what you see in the trailer.  That might be unfair, but it wasn't far off.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco plays a guy named, can you believe it, Sebastian Maniscalco.  He's the son of Salvo (Robert De Niro), an immigrant from Sicily who came to America after World War II, became a successful hair dresser in Chicago, is now a widower, and who is a guy who has spent his entire life wanting nothing more than to make a better life for his son than he had for himself.  That's the American Dream, right?

Well, Sebastian has fallen in love with a beautiful girl who is the daughter of an ultra wealthy the-ancestors-came-on-the-Mayflower family.  Daddy owns one the largest chains of ritzy hotels in the world, Mom is a US Senator (played by Kim Catrall; first time I've seen her since Sex and The City), and they have invited Sebastian to come to their luxury country club estate in Virginia for the 4th of July weekend.  Through a series of events, Sebastian ends up bringing his Dad with him.

It's the old fish-out-of-water trope, and it unfolds and ends up exactly as you imagine it will.  I'm a big fan of Robert De Niro (who isn't?), and I thought it would be a hoot to see him in a comedy role (think "Midnight Run"), and he delivers just as you thought he would, although I say that he did seem to be playing a guy who was playing "Robert De Niro" in this one.   As I said to someone yesterday, actors like De Niro can make great art in their work, but every once in a while, they're entitled to do something just for a paycheck.

This movie will make no Top Ten lists and will win no awards, but it was a fun bit of summer comedy fluff, and De Niro was De Niro, and that is always worth seeing.

Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.