The Act TV-Show Review 2019 Cast Crew
Creators: Nick Antosca, Michelle Dean
Stars: Patricia Arquette, Joey King, Chloë Sevigny
The tragic and disturbing saga of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard has already been the subject of a massive reading of BuzzFeed and two documentaries, including one, Mommie Dead and Dearest, which aired on HBO. At this time, many people know the strange details that surround this dysfunctional relationship from mother to daughter.
But even if you know how your whole story of abuse, fraud and murder unfolds, The Act, a new limited Hulu series co-created by Nick Antosca and Michelle Dean, author of the above-mentioned BuzzFeed piece, still offers extremely convincing television . The fact that Dee Dee Blanchard was murdered at her home in 2015 is evident from the beginning of the first episode. Shortly thereafter, the flashbacks imply that Dee Dee's care of her seemingly frail, wheelchair-bound daughter, Gypsy, may not have been as loving and selfless as she seemed. But The Act takes time to reveal the depth and scope of the lies that Dee Dee said, how Gypsy's frustration with his mother would increase in the future and what may have been their motivation. The Law understands that the why in this story, to the extent that we can know, is as important as the what.
The Law is fascinating for several reasons, but one of them is the performance of its two protagonists, Patricia Arquette and Joey King. A series of eight episodes about two people who are codependent to the point of causing each other physical harm would simply not work if we did not believe the depth of their love and mutual trust. Arquette and King are completely convincing in that regard. They are also playing women who are characters with a capital C, but both resist the temptation to break their teeth on stage. His performances are disciplined and exceptional.
As Dee Dee, a native of Louisiana, Arquette speaks with a soft and born bluster that makes her "mother of the year" even more believable. But Dee Dee is also suspicious, controlling and prone to extreme panic when she thinks that Gypsy is doing something seemingly innocuous, like drinking a Coca Cola, which could negatively affect her health. ("Too much sugar," she often scolds her son.) Arquette captures all the emotional settings of Dee Dee and has a knack for finding and showing her humanity that she feels a little sorry for her, even when she does things that are completely monstrous. . (See, for example, forcing your daughter to keep using a feeding tube for years when she does not need it). Arquette intuitively exploits Dee Dee's insecurity and the need for it to be so profound that she tells her daughter. Side to satisfy it.
King is an even bigger revelation, to the point that those who have seen her on other projects, such as Netflix's The Kissing Booth or Fargo, may not even recognize her. With his head shaved, a look that Dee Dee forces Gypsy to hold, and his big eyes magnified by a pair of huge glasses, King not only looks at the part, but also sinks into it. Speaking in Gypsy's famous high-pitched voice, King channels the bubbly, childish innocence that persuades others to believe that Gypsy is younger than his real age. Every time he smiles, King's eyes light up as if he just wanted a star and his dreams come true. She's such a big doll that you can understand, a little, why Dee Dee would want to take care of her. But King also makes it quite clear that Gypsy is really suffering. In the second episode, after all the teeth were removed at the urging of her mother, she looks at her gums shattered in the mirror and sobs, with physical pain and for what her mother has allowed a dentist to do to her. Your heart suffers for her, even when Gypsy becomes bolder in her acts of rebellion and a feeling of foreboding begins to settle over the series.
The mix of melodrama and sometimes spooky details give The Act the feel of an old-fashioned thriller. If it had become a movie a few decades ago, I could have starred in Bette Davis and been called What Happened to Baby Gypsy? But every time the series feels as if it could become too exaggerated or lean too far into the great territory of Guignol, it rolls up and plants its feet on the ground. It also entails some smart visual risks, splashing the text messages sent and received by Gypsy through the screen while the elements of the scene overlap so that some of the words are hidden. This is done especially masterfully in the fifth episode, directed by Steven Piet, in a way that suggests that everything that is about to happen is an inevitable, inevitable conclusion, that you know what messages Gypsy exchanges with her boyfriend, Nick (Calum). Worthy of American Vandal), they will say without even
There are some moments that do not work as well as they could. On a couple of occasions, the conversations between the neighbors of the Blanchard, Mel (Chloë Sevigny), Mel's daughter, Lacey (AnnaSophia Robb) and Shelly (Denitra Isler) on the night of the murder seem a bit outstanding and convenient. (By chance, Shelly recalls that Dee Dee called her once in the middle of the night to ask about a man who met Gypsy during an episode that returns to Gypsy encounters with a boy he met at a Comic-Con-esque convention. ). Hulu provided five of the eight episodes, and seeing only those, he was not sure if the series could be discussing things by extending the story over so many hour-long episodes.
I know that The Act is a disturbing work more than television that sheds light on the abuse and / or terrible paternity in what has been a recent series of such programs. The Act is not even the first program last year to focus on Munchausen syndrome by deploying powers in the state of Missouri. The completely fictitious Sharp Objects arrived first.
The idea that all of these childhood narratives are connected is revealed in a heartbreaking, though probably unintentional, way when Dee Dee plays a melody he refers to as hers and Gypsy's song: "I Be Be There ", from Jackson Five. Seeing them linked to a song that demands "make a pact" has a double meaning. The fact that it's being sung by Michael Jackson, a man who, according to Leaving Neverland, abused children and who also loved Disney's fairy tales as much as Gypsy, adds another layer. It's a moment that will give you chills. That will not be the first nor the last time it happens while the Law is seen.
Check More Stuff: What We Do in the Shadows TV-Show Review 2019 Cast Crew
The Act TV-Show Review 2019 Cast Crew