I would watch Emma Stone in almost anything. Her eyes are mesmerising, as is the quirky soul behind them. I find her instincts as a performer impossible to ignore. Something about her is just beyond what most people are capable of giving out, either as an actor or a person. She is smart, funny, modest, vulnerable, deep, beautiful and natural all at the same time. So, she is perfect for an off the wall mini series about the nature of hallucinations and dreams, intent on blending a dark, wry humour with a maudlin critique on regret and the loneliness of modern living. Jonah Hill is also in it… which is… fine.
Cary Joji Fukunaga directs. He has some flare for the unusual and the spectacular, having already achieved credits on True Detective and No Time To Die; and we can definitely look to the vivid design and colours of this show as a defining factor. The writing originates from Norway, which also explains a lot of how the sensibility of its themes feel quite alien from traditional US shows. It imagines an experimental process and drug that allows the human guinea pigs, including Stone and Hill, to regress into past dreams and alternate realities based on what might be pure fictions or previous lives. What they find within these alternate worlds links the plot line of the characters in a way reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In fact, the whole thing feels quite Charlie Kaufman lite.
Whilst quite entertaining and certainly distracting enough, I found it tough to focus on the through-line of the story. Something was a little off in the pacing, or the writing, or both. I found myself drifting off into my own dreamstate at times and letting it wash over me rather than absorbing it on a fully engaged level. Maybe I need to see it again, but I doubt it is a sleeping Classic. Rather it is a near miss with a lot to like, yet another admirable failure that you wish was better than it actually is.
Scenes with Julia Garner (the amazing Ruth from Ozark) as Stone’s sister are most memorable. This is a partnership that I’d like to see again elsewhere. Meanwhile a svelt Jonah Hill plays his part perfectly well – except you often find yourself wishing it was someone else in the role, even Michael Cera. By the end, you are strangely glad it is over. At 10 episodes it is perhaps a little stretched for the concept. 7 might have been better. Ultimately it is one of those odd experiences that you can’t quite work out if you really liked or could just as well have lived without. I’ve yet to meet anyone else at all who watched it, so it would be interesting to find out what the consensus of intelligent and seasoned mini-series watchers think…?
I would say it goes to show how a strong visual design and a big star can still be enough to draw viewers in. Especially given a sci-fi concept. Were sacrifices in solid storytelling sacrificed here in favour of an aesthetic designed to pull in a crowd that would really care if it made any sense? We’ve seen that before…!
Rating: 7/10
The Wasteland 