| Makes Seinfeld look like The Cosby Show |
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| written by underdog |
April 9, 2004 - 10:01 AM PDT |
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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In the dictionary next to the phrase "acquired taste" shall sit a picture of Larry David's acerbic HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. The episodes here offer up an array of bitter, and often genuinely brilliant, comic moments, and star a cast of talented folk -- David himself, a former stand-up and co-creator of Seinfeld (many have said he was the model for that show's George Costanza and it's easy to see evidence of that from watching this show -- although he's much more confident a persona than Costanza ever was), and Richard Lewis playing himself, that is, Larry's best friend, and so on. I spent a good deal of the time spent watching this wondering how his wife puts up with him, until she reveals herself as having her own...issues. Much of the humor from this show derives, in fact, from David's reacting off of the other wacked out characters he comes across, sharply catching all the absurdities life has to offer. For my money the funniest episodes here are #1 and the last one, which features a cameo by Seinfeld's Julia Louis Dreyfus as herself, of course, in a truly hilarious story.
What's off-putting about the show, depending particularly on your mood (never mind Larry David's many moods) and ability to withstand edginess, are some of the truly nasty characters he runs across. Jeff's wife gets worse with each episode, then there's the guy from the golf club (in an episode featuring Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk as a former porn actor, an episode with its share of laughs and yet which I found rather unpleasant). Of course, I lived in LA for awhile and can tell you these people are hardly exaggerations. David's comic timing is spot-on and there are enough inspired moments here to give enjoyment to anyone missing Seinfeld or wanting something even darker. Very funny, but I'm... curbing my enthusiasm.
By the way, if at any point you find yourself bored or enervated by the show, I highly recommend turning on the French audio track -- the dubbing is spot-on, the actors amusingly a Francophile version of Larry and co., and even if you don't speak French (turn on subtitles) it's pretty darned funny -- at least for a few minutes. In some weird way it almost works better in French. Oui. |
| Nope, not funny |
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| written by larbeck |
January 14, 2004 - 7:20 PM PST |
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2 out of 18 members found this review helpful
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| Not funny at all. Larry David is about the most unsymphetic character ever - PATHthic, actuall and it is painful to see the guest stars he brings to this cosmic waste of time. |
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