In some places, this has the ironic effect of distancing the viewer - the show simply takes for granted that volleyball is important to Beth, for example, without bothering to explain why. Life & Beth‘s perspective can be a narrow one, in that it prioritizes Beth’s to the exclusion of almost anyone else’s. Most of the roads in Beth’s history lead back to her mother, because as Beth puts it: “No one loves you like your mom and no one hurts you like your mom.” Benanti’s Jane comes into focus only gradually, but she’s magnetic throughout as a woman whose starry-eyed romanticism can be a saving grace or a poison. On one hand, the time-skipping structure of Life & Beth feels true to the way past events are recalled and processed on the other, it keeps the younger Beth (tenderly played by Violet Young) in a perpetual state of transition without enough clarity into what she’s transitioning out of or into. (Though if you know much about Schumer’s personal life, you might be able to guess.) As a bonus, the familiar patterns of courtship give Life & Beth some much-needed structure.īeth’s adolescence is harder to track. Schumer and Cera share a sweet, slow-burning chemistry, while their off-kilter dynamic makes it difficult to guess precisely where their relationship might go. The role takes the guilelessness of Cera’s early roles and reshapes it as disarming bluntness, so that even when he’s covered in blood - as he is when he first meets Beth in episode three - he comes across as trustworthy rather than threatening. The most prominent and most fascinating of the non-Beth characters is John (Michael Cera), the socially awkward vineyard groundskeeper who becomes Beth’s new crush. In contrast to the brash comic persona she’s honed in her standup, her Comedy Central series and films like Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty, Beth’s most prominent personality trait seems to be her lack of one - she gets “nice to meet you”s from clients she’s met several times before, and inevitably follows up any emotional reaction with a mumbled apology.īeth’s charisma and sly sense of humor start to shine through as her arc progresses, but in the meantime it’s the characters around her who garner most of the chuckles - like Jonathan Groff as a Long Islander who’s obsessed with “the city” in the way only a tourist could be, or Yamaneika Saunders as Maya, a true-blue pal Beth can call up at any time to ask questions like “Is life worthless?” (Maya’s perfect response: “Girl, life is trash.”) In early episodes, Beth’s numbness makes her easy to feel for but hard to like. But the most painful events are teased in bits and pieces, to be revealed in full only later in the season when Beth is ready to come to terms with them. Sometimes, they’re complete anecdotes about her first kiss or the mockery she endured after she flashed some boys on a dare. She reconnects with old friends and makes new ones, tries her hand at outdoor activities like fishing and farming, considers reorienting her job or jumping to another career entirely.Īll the while, she’s flooded with memories of her middle-school years in that same home. In the wake of sudden change, Beth finds herself back at her childhood home on Long Island, away from the stable but uninspiring wine-sales job and superficially charming but unbearably self-obsessed boyfriend (Kevin Kane) that define her life in Manhattan. At its best, as in an episode that draws parallels between Beth’s love life and her bittersweet history with her dad (Michael Rapaport), the series feels as personal as a therapy session. Nevertheless, it’s intriguing for the rawness that Schumer - who not only stars but created the series and wrote and directed most of its episodes inspired by her own experiences - brings to the table. 'Barbie' Trailer, Posters Give First Look at Star-Studded Cast of Humans and Dolls
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