We interview Deaner ’89 actors Paul Spence and Will Sasso about their hard-rocking comedy depicting the origin of Dean Murdoch.
Capturing the essence of rock ‘n’ roll on film is often difficult. It’s not just about the music; it’s about the attitude, urges, style, and passion to get to the heart of a form of expression that conjures inner demons and lets them out to play. Movies like Airheads, This is Spinal Tap, Detroit Rock City, Metalhead, School of Rock, Heavy Metal, and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School stand tall as some of the best of what cinema has to offer regarding the raw, inspirational power of rock ‘n’ roll. This year, we have Deaner ’89, an exploratory and nostalgia-tinged comedy about Dean Murdoch, a headbanger on the verge of emerging from his heavy metal cocoon in the small town of Haylen, Manitoba, Canada.
We recently had the pleasure of raising our horns alongside actor, musician, and writer Paul Spence (Fubar, I’m Not There) and versatile comedic actor Will Sasso (MAD TV, Young Sheldon, The Three Stooges) during an in-depth discussion about Deaner ’89. During our interview, we discovered the origin of why Spence wanted to re-establish Dean Murdoch for new audiences, the secrets behind some of Dean’s quirks, Sasso’s inspiration for his Canadian hockey coach character, Glen, the important of comfy furniture, which bands the duo would choose to headline a rock ‘n’ roll music festival, and more.
Directed by Sam McGlynn from a screenplay by Spence, who drew inspiration from his own family past, Deaner ’89 has the following official logline: Hard-luck metalhead Dean Murdoch (Paul Spence) reveals how he finally made it, taking us back to the ’80s – when being a hockey jock was a badge of honor, Jazzercise was a national movement, seatbelts were optional, and teachers were as drunk as their students.
Coming from Eagle Vision and PSA Productions, Deaner ’89 is a more-than-worthy addition to Hollywood’s rock ‘n’ roll movie pantheon. While growing up in the ’80s, I knew people like Dean and wanted to become him before bands like Tool, Korn, and Alice in Chains led me down a different path. Deaner ’89 captures the vibes of living life with your fist raised high and a cold beer in your hand. Make sure you check out our full review here for more.
About the Author
Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.
James Gunn’s Creature Commandos is ready to stir up trouble on Max with an official release date and new images.
Christmas comes early for DC fans this year as the release date for James Gunn’s Creature Commandos arrives to end 2024 with an action-packed monster mash! Premiering December 5 on Max, the first entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s “Gods and Monsters” arc finds Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) with her hands tied, operationally, meaning that she’s no longer able to get away with putting human lives on the line to carry out her clandestine morally questionable missions. Instead, she recruits a ragtag band of misfits, not unlike the Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Her new team is a collective of literal monsters, bringing tooth and claw to the DCU with unpredictable tempers and tantrums that could change how Waller wins the day.
The cast of Creatures Commandos includes Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Indira Varma as The Bride, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, and Steve Agee as John Economos, and Sean Gunn as Weasel.
In addition to revealing the Creature Commandos release date, Entertainment Weekly debuted a gallery of new images for the series, featuring the cast kicking back at the bar, enjoying a nice cup of tea, and ready to throw down with guns blazing.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn explained the appeal of Creature Commandos and how playing in the DC universe permits access to unique characters and teams outside the superhero norm. “The thing I’ve always loved about DC Comics was that you had your mainstream comics that always ran, but they also had these tonally different comics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and All-Star Superman,” Gunn tells Entertainment Weekly. “It was different from Marvel in that way. That’s something that I really want to retain within the studio, that every project is going to bring a different vision by the artists who are creating it.”
“I’m used to dealing with oddballs and irregular types and weirdos,” Gunn continues. “That’s what Guardians is, and Creature Commandos is kind of like Guardians without the sentimentality. The Guardians are all really good characters at their heart, and that just isn’t necessarily the case with the creatures.”
Gunn says each episode of Creature Commandos delves into a different character’s backstory, giving us a glimpse at what makes them who they are and how they became a part of the eerie ensemble. While Superman is the honest-to-goodness launch of the new DCU, Gunn wants fans to think of Creature Commandos as a “nibble” of the main course, an amuse-bouche of beasts, war-hardened robots, and wild takes on Universal Monsters.
“There are a ton of fun references to other DC stuff, a bunch of hints for things that are coming. So I think it’s just an extraordinarily fun way to start,” Gunn says about Creature Commandos.
About the Author
Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.
Universal Studios hosted its newest Hollywood Horror Nights and featured a display of the upcoming Wolf Man. The new design may have been revealed.
When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.
Unfortunately, the project would get delayed and Gosling would depart from the planned reboot. The leads of the film will be Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator, while Garner is believed to be the wife. Now, ComicBookMovie is giving us a look at the new design of the Wolf Man character from this film. The new unveiling was made at the latest Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, and it is definitely unlike any other design that’s come before it. It remains to be seen if this is the main Wolf Man design or perhaps its a variation of one from another character in the movie. In any case, take a look at it below.
There you have it. Earlier this year, Ken Kao, the producer of the film, spoke about this new interpretation, citing the mistakes of Universal’s Dark Universe. Kao stated, “As an outsider, I would say that The Mummy’s Dark Universe, in my humble opinion, felt like it was reactive to what was going on with all the superhero stuff – the MCU and DC universe, and we know there’s been a lot of talk about what happened with all that [in] the last year or so.” He, then explained this new tactic, “I guess you could call it maybe more like the Joker approach. In my opinion, especially if you’re going to do it for contained pieces like Blumhouse is really good at doing, [it] makes a lot more sense to me. So that’s a good playbook.”
About the Author
E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.
Netflix’s Mr. McMahon trailer depicts the complicated career and downfall of a wrestling industry legend in a six-part documentary.
One of the most controversial figures in wrestling, Vince McMahon, is the subject of Netflix’s upcoming documentary series Mr. McMahon. Fans ready to go to the mats with this disturbing portrait of the legendary former WWE boss had best prepare themselves for several body slams as the Chris Smith-directed presentation shows no signs of holding back. Netflix‘s Mr. McMahon trailer sets the tone for a hard look at the best of intentions gone sour, with McMahon getting involved in one scandal after another along his dark path through fame and fortune.
Here’s the official synopsis for Mr. McMahon courtesy of Netflix:
Mr. McMahon chronicles the rise and fall of Vince McMahon, a controversial businessman and co-founder of WWE. From his transformation of the WWE from a small, regional business into a global entertainment powerhouse to the explosive sexual misconduct allegations that led to his eventual resignation, this six-episode series offers a deep dive into McMahon’sMcMahon’s life and his enduring franchise. Culled from over 200 hours of interviews with McMahon himself (prior to his resignation), his family members, business associates and some of the most iconic names in wrestling history, as well as the journalists who uncovered McMahon’sMcMahon’s allegations — filmmaker Chris Smith (Tiger King) and executive producer Bill Simmons (30 for 30) present an unflinching, no-holds-barred look at one of the most enigmatic figures in sports entertainment.
Mr. McMahon consists of six-hour episodes, which Chris Smith directs. The presentation hails from Library Films in association with Ringer Films. Bill Simmons, Zara Duffy, and Smith are executive producers. Speaking about his intentions for the upcoming documentary series, Chris Smith said:
“The goal behind ‘Mr. McMahon’ was to pull back the curtain and reveal the true Vince McMahon, obscured beneath the persona he presented to the world. Over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations. The final product is a revealing documentary that we believe offers a rich and nuanced portrait of the man and the complex legacy he left behind.”
Netflix’s Mr. McMahon trailer includes highlights from the wrestling company pioneer’s long-standing career, his ties to the wrestling industry’s steroid epidemic, his departure from the WWE, and the latest allegations of paying four women $12 million in hush money payments. The documentary also includes exclusive interviews with some of wrestling’s biggest and beefiest prodigies, from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and more. Get ready for McMahonamania, folks!
Mr. McMahon will body-slam Netflix subscribers on September 25, 2024.
About the Author
Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.
The sci-fi writer of Dune and Passengers is set to work on a new film about a woman looking into the mystery of her amnesia.
Deadline is reporting that Jon Spaihts, who worked with Denis Villeneuve on the screenplays for the Dune films and penned the Chris Pratt/Jennifer Lawrence space romance drama Passengers, will be making his directorial debut on a film that he will also write. It is a yet-to-be-titled sci-fi thriller and will be produced by Laika’s live-action division. The Oregon-based studio is usually known for their animation work and has been nominated for a number of Academy Awards. Their specialty also lies predominantly on stop-motion animation.
While details are scant at the moment, per Deadline, the new sci-fi thriller will tell “the tale of a woman investigating a mystery that took place during a week she cannot remember.” Spaihts spoke of his directorial debut in a statement that said, “This is an original passion project I’ve been eager to turn to for a while, and I couldn’t ask for better partners. LAIKA has a clear creative vision, and a tradition of meticulous, bespoke storytelling that suits this project very well.”
Matt Levin, Laika’s President, Live Action Film & Series, also made the statement that studio “has long admired Jon’s iconic work as a screenwriter. He is one of the most imaginative and inventive storytellers working today, and we’re honored to partner with him as he brings his unique vision and soul to the director’s chair for the first time with a wholly original idea that is as thought-provoking as it is moving.”
Spaihts is reportedly working on the script for Dune Messiah with Villeneuve and while Villeneuve wants to take a break from the sand epic to do another kind of project, he said back in April that he had already started working on the script for Dune Messiah. Villeneuve said, “That anger (felt by Zendaya’s character at the end of Part Two) is tremendous. I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there, and I’m very excited about that decision.“
The novel Dune Messiah has the following description: Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known-and feared-as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne-and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty.
About the Author
E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.
Full Moon is going all-out this Halloween, hosting a special party in a 130-year-old haunted mansion in Cleveland.
What’s scarier than Cleveland? A spooky event in a haunted church in Cleveland! Full Moon is hosting a massive shebang with none other than cult favorite Charles Band, the man behind the studio, which was founded more than 35 years ago.
The event, dubbed Charles Band’s Church of Chills Live! – will take place in a 130-year-old church in The Forest City and will feature celebrity appearances, prizes/giveaways, a merch booth for all of your Full Moon needs. Appropriately enough, the event will take place on October 26th – the last Saturday before Halloween – at 7:00 p.m. As for tickets, they will go on sale October 1st.
Tickets are priced at $125 per person and the event is limited to 200 seats. But those 200 attendees won’t just get some celeb sightings and special gifts, they also will be part of an exclusive screening of Full Moon’s latest, Death Streamer, which you can watch the trailer for here.
As far as the plot of Full Moon’s Death Streamer – which is directed by Charles Band himself – you can expect the following: “A modern-age vampire employs technologically advanced glasses that enable him to not only hunt his victims in and out of the virtual world… but also live stream his bloody feasts for all to see! As this high-tech ghoul continues to glut on his screaming victims, his internet-based cult of personality expands, his fanbase addicted to watching the slaughter. But when an intrepid trio of young supernatural investigators lock-down on the trail of the “Death Streamer”, the fiend turns the tables and begins stalking them.”
But that’s not the only Full Moon feature attendees will be experiencing…The event itself will actually be filmed as part of an upcoming documentary on the production company. That alone might be worth the price of admission for die-hards. No doubt the Full Moon doc will be one to keep an eye out for, as the company has amassed a huge following over the past few decades and has one heck of a backstory to it. We here at JoBlo.com are huge fans of Charles Band and Full Moon. Like so many of our readers, we have continued to support him and the company throughout its evolution and can’t wait to see what’s in store.
What are your favorite Full Moon features? Drop your top three in the comments section below!
Laurence Fishburne started making Apocalypse Now when he was 14 but turned 18 by the time it had its Cannes premiere.
Nobody in their right mind would go into the heart of darkness with Francis Ford Coppola. And by most accounts, a lot of the cast of Apocalypse Now wasn’t. But someone who really went for it was Laurence Fishburne, who famously landed his role at just 14, having lied about his age so he could go off and work on Apocalypse Now.
Fishburne – who played “Mr. Clean” in Apocalypse Now – remembered just how important it was for him to land that film, especially at such a young age. “It’s very difficult to describe what that whole situation was like, because, as you know, I was a young person. I was 14, I was 15, I was very impressionable. I was still developing and it was an impactful event in my life. It took two years. But I will say, looking back, the most important part of Apocalypse Now was really my apprenticeship in the world of the arts. It is where I apprenticed becoming an artist because I was working with great artists. I was in the company of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall and Francis Ford Coppola. I was being influenced by those people and the choices that they made. And so really, Apocalypse is a great apprenticeship that I was fortunate enough to be given.” Fishburne also previously recounted a story in which he saved Emilio Estevez (son of Sheen) from quicksand while making the film. So, yeah, not exactly something today’s teenagers would normally go through…
While Laurence Fishburne was just a teen when he shot Apocalypse Now, he would turn 18 by the time the movie was finally released…more than three years after cameras first rolled. Of note, he was credited as Larry Fishburne, not going by Laurence until 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It. For that, he earned his only Oscar nomination to date, showing a brand change can work wonders for a career.
Despite fibbing on his resume (really, the last of Coppola’s problems on Apocalypse Now), Fishburne would go on to work with the director three times in the ‘80s with Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club and Gardens of Stone and will reunite with him with this month’s Megalopolis.
Paramount+ has ordered a new crime series based on the infamous murder case from the 90s involving the murder of JonBenét Ramsey.
True crime is a morbid fascination for audiences. In the 90s, there would be made-for-TV movies that featured plots ripped straight out of the headlines and with the influx of quality in television programming, whether it be broadcast or streaming, the limited series format is proving to be an ideal way to tell these stories in dramatic format. Yesterday, a new trailer for the Ryan Murphy series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premiered and The Hollywood Reporter is now reporting that another infamous 90s crime case will be getting its own series.
Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are slated to star in a limited episode show about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. The series is currently sporting the unofficial title, JonBenét Ramsey and it will be streaming on Paramount+. JonBenét Ramsey comes from Yellowstone producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, as well as showrunner Richard LaGravenese, known for Behind the Candelabra. LaGravense and the series’ creators Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach are also writing. McCarthy and Owen will play JonBenét’s parents, Patsy and John Ramsey.
The show’s description says the series will follow the family “as they go through the painful loss of a child while facing intense public scrutiny caused by a media frenzy that caused this case to captivate an entire nation. At the heart of the series, it is the story of Patsy and John Ramsey, exploring the unbreakable partnership of these two complex people — as husband and wife, as mother and father — who had committed themselves and their children to building the narrative of a perfect, privileged life only to have it destroyed one Christmas night in 1996.”
Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and president and CEO of Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios, spoke of the show’s stars, saying, “Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are an extraordinary duo to delve into this tragic story that has cast a long, haunting shadow over American culture for nearly three decades.” 101 Studios CEO David Glasser adds the statement, “We have been working to bring this thought-provoking and bold project to audiences for some time now and could not be happier with the top-notch team working in front of and behind the camera.”
About the Author
E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.
Stern Pinball announces Uncanny X-Men as the silver ball company’s latest Marvel-inspired pinball machine to take players beyond the page!
To me, my Pinball Wizards! The Stern Pinball company is mixing it up with mutants for its new Uncanny X-Men pinball machine, featuring many of Charles Xavier’s best warriors for mutantkind in a time-warping trip filled with Sentinels, Danger Room traps, and high-risk scenarios for the Children of the Atom to overcome!
According to Stern’s official Uncanny X-Menpinball machine press release:
Stern‘s new The Uncanny X-Men pinball games feature Wolverine, Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Bishop, Kitty Pryde, and Magneto, along with a supporting cast of allies and foes. The adventure takes players to familiar X-Men locations, including the Danger Room, Beast’s Lab, the X-Mansion, and Genosha. Players will also interact with fabled X-Men devices like Cerebro and the X-Jet.
The Uncanny X-Men playfield is a unique pinball layout that features an array of new crossing shots and ramp designs with surprising ball trajectories to deliver kinetic satisfaction. The all-new Danger Room design, located to the left of the main flippers, offers a high-risk, high-reward experience that includes a mini-flipper and a novel outlane spinner. Premium and Limited Edition models also include an all-new elevated captive ball vari-target themed as Beast’s Lab.
The Uncanny X-Men pinball game features a mechanically articulated Sentinel for the player to battle. The Sentinel’s large robotic head changes its state based on the player’s actions. In the Premium and Limited Edition models, the Sentinel rises from underneath the playfield and fights back by destroying the player’s ramps or attacking the ball with its extended hands.
Stern alum Jeremy Packer, aka Zombie Yeti, provides the stunning artwork for Stern’s Uncanny X-Men pinball machine. Each version of the game features a custom X-Men-inspired soundtrack with diverse musical styles articulating different eras designed to bring X-fans closer to the action than ever before. Does the soundtrack do hard? Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera fame composed the score, so you tell me.
Stern’s Uncanny X-Men pinball machines recreate the classic Marvel storylines “Days of Future Past” and “Mind Out of Time,” which the game company notes “takes place in Marvel’s Earth-811 timeline. Stern’s numbered Limited Edition games will be limited to 811 globally for The Uncanny X-Men. The highly collectible Limited Edition model includes the new Speaker Expression Lighting System with X-Men-themed game effects, a “Danger Room” inspired mirrored backglass, reflective foil “Future vs. Past” high-definition cabinet decals with artwork by Zombie Yeti, exclusive “Sentinel Armor” powder-coated pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, a signed Certificate of Authenticity, and a digital Insider Connected LE owner’s badge on registration.
Each game includes Stern’s “ever-expanding Insider Connected platform, which enables players to interact with the game and a global network of players in multiple ways. Through Insider Connected, players can track progress, earn game-specific Achievements, and discover new mutants with Cerebro. Every player who logs in with Insider Connected will discover their own mutant power to aid them with online Quests. Original buyers of The Uncanny X-Men pinball will also receive new Uncanny X-Men themed Pro, Premium, and LE owner’s badges after initial registration of their game. Ongoing code updates from Stern Pinball will enhance and extend the player experience.”
Stern’s Uncanny X-Men pinball machines give players a chance to become a part of one of the most iconic comic book stories ever written, with plenty of tricks, hidden gems, clever strategies, and ingenious table design to keep you entertained and excited to share your score with players worldwide. Will you help the X-Men rewrite Marvel history to prevent future mutants from past mistakes?
Visit Stern Pinball’s official website for more details about how you can pre-order your Uncanny X-Men pinball machine!
Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber lead a spoiled family in a silly murder mystery limited series.
Plot: Amelia Sacks is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket. Her disapproving future mother-in-law, famous novelist Greer Garrison Winbury, has spared no expense in planning what promises to be the premiere wedding of the season — until a body turns up on the beach. As secrets come to light, the stage is set for a real-life investigation that feels plucked from the pages of one of Greer’s novels. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect.
Review: There are so many marquee series to choose from these days that it can be unbearable trying to decide what to watch. From star-studded, acclaimed projects that win countless awards and raise the bar for what long-form storytelling can do to big-budget spectacles that rival the biggest summer blockbuster, there is an option for every taste. But, while there is a time and a place for an elegant meal of fine cuisine, sometimes you want a greasy cheeseburger. It is satisfying and immediate but holds no benefit in the long run. That is exactly what The Perfect Couple is. The latest in the line of soapy drama series that Nicole Kidman has headlined over the last decade, The Perfect Couple is a blend of mystery whodunit with the wealth-porn that has been the core of series like Yellowstone and Succession. A surprisingly funny limited series with an overly complex series of twists, The Perfect Couple is too ridiculous for its own good.
Set on the ultra-rich beachfront of Nantucket, The Perfect Couple centers on the nuptials of Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) to Benji Winbury (Billy Howle), the middle child of best-selling novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) and her generationally wealthy husband Tag (Liev Schreiber). Coming from a middle-class family, Amelia is not accustomed to the life of the one-percent Winbury clan, including eldest son Thomas (Jack Reynor) and youngest Will (Sam Nivola). As the preparations are made for Amelia and Benji’s wedding, a murder puts the entire clan into a suspect pool including Thomas’ wife Abby (Dakota Fanning), Benji’s best friend Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khattar), Amelia’s best friend and famous influencer Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy), family friend Isabel (Isabelle Adjani), and even the police chief’s daughter, Chloe (Mia Isaac). As Chief Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin) investigate the murder, secrets and lies begin to unravel, involving every single member of the family and their inner circles.
Over six episodes, the police investigation reveals so many things that most series would have needed twice as many episodes to address. Because The Perfect Couple crams them into a half dozen chapters, you rarely get through an episode without changing your suspect list multiple times. There are extramarital affairs, drugs, hush money, drugs, drinking, cheating, drugs, and the occasional social media meltdown to keep the members of the family at each other’s throats, figuratively and literally. Where a series like Succession mined the verbal abuse lobbed between characters for satirical value, The Perfect Couple seems unsure whether it wants to mock the protagonists. Liev Schreiber plays Tag as a perpetually stoned patriarch who is ignorant of the gravity of what is happening around him and shifts from a figure of prominence to almost a spoof of himself by the end of the series. Jack Reynor and Dakota Fanning are very good at playing spoiled brat adults, while Meghann Fahy does solid work in a role that echoes her turn on The White Lotus. Isabelle Adjani chews the scenery in a supporting role that will hopefully drive many to check out her illustrious filmography, which shows how much great work she has done.
The biggest roles in this series belong to Eve Hewson and Nicole Kidman. Kidman seems to be spending more of her time working on series like this than ever before, with The Perfect Couple fitting right alongside Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers as another role as an affluent mother and wife whose life is upended by a death. Kidman is good here, as she usually is, but this may be the shallowest of her small-screen leading roles in recent years. Seeing her play off of the actors who portray her family is entertaining, especially when she is opposite Eve Hewson. Hewson, who had a breakout role in The Knick, Bad Sisters, and last year’s Flora and Son, is one of the few characters not born into wealth in this series and sees the rotten core she is preparing to marry into. Kidman and Hewson have two of the least funny roles in the series, which has so many jokes that it made me wonder if this was a drama that was supposed to be funny or a partially dramatic comedy. It is so unevenly handled that it undermines the whole series’s tone.
Based on the book by best-selling novelist Elin Hildebrand, The Perfect Couple was the writer’s first mystery after a successful career in romance novels. Created by Resident Alien actress Jenna Lamia, who wrote or co-wrote all six episodes, The Perfect Couple has a heavy dose of humor that seems at odds with the dark subject matter. The whole series was directed by Susanne Bier, who has done phenomenal work with the film Bird Box and the dramatic series The Night Manager. Bier reunites with Nicole Kidman, whom she directed in The Undoing, another tale of a family torn apart by a heinous crime. While Bier’s previous efforts centered on the characters and the tension of the driving crime, she seems a bit lost in the humor in this adaptation. Playing any of this subject matter as a pitch-black comedy would have been a direction, but everything is so light and breezy that it never feels like the stakes are real. The massive Bollywood-esque dance number that serves as the opening credit sequence for the series is the perfect statement of how manufactured and fake this story is.
There are a lot of moments in this series, especially the entire final episode, where I was laughing at the jokes the characters were delivering. I was not laughing because they were particularly funny but because of how out of place they felt compared to the subject matter. Within any sequence of this series are scenes in which half the actors are playing them as comedy, and the others are playing them as serious, almost as if they are in two different shows. The limited run of six episodes also means that so many elements introduced through the series end up serving little or no purpose at the show’s end. The Perfect Couple is anticlimactic and underwhelming, even if it looks like everyone involved had a lot of fun making it. You will certainly not have as much fun watching it.
The Perfect Couple premieres on September 5th on Netflix.
