GRACE AND FRANKIE a Frank and Graceful Tale

Article originally written for Seat42F.

I cannot remember the last time my opinion of a show changed so drastically from the start to the finish of a pilot as it did for Netflix’s GRACE AND FRANKIE. The show, which launched all thirteen episodes of its freshman run yesterday, is the story of two women whose husbands come out as gay after forty years of marriage. The women hate one another, but they each may just be the only other person in the world who understands what the other is going through.

The first episode of GRACE AND FRANKIE, funnily enough entitled “The End,” begins with a corny theme song and a big, splashy announcement of the breakup at a double dinner date. While watching this scene, the situation seems incredibly cheesy and almost cliché, though the circumstances aren’t yet cliché at this point, and the characters feel flat and unrealistic. I was very tempted to turn it off.

As soon as you get past the opening of “The End,” though, the series immediately begins to deepen and improve. By the end of the half hour, viewers will not just understand how all of this happened the way it did, but feel like they’ve seen very raw performances from four actors at the very top of their craft. It’s not that the opening is bad, it is just not easy to understand until you get more from the characters. I cannot wait to go watch the other twelve installments.

GRACE AND FRANKIE stars Lily Tomlin (9 to 5, The West Wing) as Frankie, who is married to Sol (Sam Waterston, Law & Order, The Newsroom) at the start. They are a couple of spiritual hippies who are one another’s best friends. They have raised two sensitive sons (Brotherhood’s Ethan Embry and Fairly Legal’s Baron Vaughn), at least one of whom is adopted, and even after hearing the news, Frankie is the type who can’t bring herself to sleep in a different bed than Sol, at least not the first night.

GRACE AND FRANKIE also stars Jane Fonda (9 to 5, The Newsroom) as Grace, who is married to Robert (Martin Sheen, The Departed, The West Wing) at the start. They are an uptight, well-off couple who can’t stand one another very much. The poison in their relationship has led to a pair of judgmental daughters (Burning Love’s June Diane Raphael and Friends With Better Lives’ Brooklyn Decker) who are there for their mother, but also share her coldness a bit. She let herself be blinded to Robert’s tendencies because, even though their marriage wasn’t good, she thought this was normal.

Sol and Robert are in love and trying to spend their waning years happy. This is inherently selfish, as at least one of the wives points out, not leaving their spouses with a choice or much time to seek their own fulfillment. If the boys were going to do this, they should have done it twenty years ago, before life is almost over. Their last snatch at being who they want to be, finally something socially acceptable and their impending marriage legal, robs two other people of their own comfortable twilights.

Being able to see both sides of the guys’ decision, the one where they are finally doing what is right for themselves and the one where they are destroying a family, makes for quite a complex story. GRACE AND FRANKIE is easy to explain on the surface, but I was surprised and impressed by how deep it goes.

Where opposites attract for the men, they repel for the women, who know one another because their husbands are too close not to involve them, but have no desire to spend any time together. That the couples invested in a beach house together, the natural retreat for both females, provides a convenient way to force continued exposure. The show does manage not to fall into familiar tropes in which they
quickly become pals. As much as I want them to stay in scenes together, it must be authentic. “The End” gives me hope that it will be.

This series is also funny. Conflict breeds humor, and GRACE AND FRANKIE has conflict in spades. From a semi-inappropriate chair to the effects of a bitter tea, there is plenty of opportunity to be amused, too, even if it’s with a sad kind of laugh.

The acting in this program is excellent, as one would expect from this cast, many of whom have worked together in the past. It tickles me that both women have played major roles in shows that the other’s TV spouse starred in. These four are all people who have had a heyday some time ago, and yet prove their careers are not over by any stretch of the word. I’m glad their talents are not being wasted in their later years, as they are clearly still young and vibrant enough to put them to good use for an appreciative audience.

GRACE AND FRANKIE is on Netflix now.

New Trend: Parents Playing Parents?

Article first published as New Trend: Parents Playing Parents? on Blogcritics.

Acting is a craft honed with many years of practice and a large degree of talent. But talent alone may not be enough if the actors have to work with other performers with whom they just do not have chemistry. One of the greatest challenges in casting a series is picking people who have the right fit with one another, who can make it seem like their relationships go back way further than the show's timeline.

Hollywood seems to have a new solution to that problem. Why fake a relationship, when you can use one that already exists?

In HBO's Enlightened, which just began its second season, the main character of Amy is played by Laura Dern. Amy's mother is played by Diane Ladd. What may not be obvious to those who haven't bothered googling the two women is that Ladd is Dern's actual mother. They don't look a lot alike, but considering that Ladd is the person who raised Dern, it's no surprise that they can pull off a great dynamic on screen.

Their characters are antagonistic towards each other in the series, and this isn't too far-fetched to believe. Dern once sued her mother for emancipation so that she could do a movie to which her mother objected. Clearly, the two have a rocky back story, and have some real life material to draw upon for their mother-daughter roles, and this isn't the first time they've played opposite one another.

Maybe they've worked past those differences; everyone grows up. Everyone spats with their parents; not everyone sues for emancipation, but not knowing the family, I couldn't say what what motivate such an action, or how it was received. Those of us on the outside can only guess at Dern and Ladd's actual relationship.

That isn't really the point, though. The point is, these two women, both terrific actors in their own right, have found a way to use their relationship in their careers. Being on set together gives them an opportunity to spend time together. It also gives them a very authentic feel for their characters.

I wonders how much of their real relationship goes into the parts? Do they work better if they keep the characters purely on a fictional plane, or do they have no trouble pulling things from reality, in order to make the scene even more realistic? This is personal choice, of course, and there is not formula that will work for everyone.

Thinking about how it would be to work with my parents, I feel like it risks quite a bit of unprofessionalism while filming. I mean, I can't see my parents willing to set aside the fact that they are my parents, even if they are happy to help and work together. It would definitely make for a different dynamic once the cameras stop rolling, and with Dern having some creative control over the series, does that cause any tension between them?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, whether this will work or not depends on the individuals, how they feel about one another, and what the established hierarchy is in the project. It's not a choice everyone can make, even if both parent and child happen to be in the same industry. But it works for others outside of acting, too, such as when a kid takes over a retiring parent's business, and spends years training to prepare for that day, so it's about time that this is tried in the world of television.

Dern and Ladd are not alone in this arrangement. Recently, after guesting once last summer, Martin Sheen has joined the cast of FX's Anger Management, which also just began a second season. He plays Martin, the father of real-life son Charlie's character, also called Charlie. Keeping the same names blurs the lines even more. Is this a play for ratings, or did the pair really just decide they wanted to work together? 


Not so long ago, Charlie (the actor, not the character) had a huge public meltdown, which few could have missed. Martin got involved then, too. This will only fuel rumors about why Martin is now on set, and what might be going on. It could also potentially be disruptive to the filming process down the line, so it seems like a tenuous pairing, especially on a television show committed to cranking out 90 episodes over the next two years, making for a high stress, very busy environment.

Then again, maybe it's not a problem. As I said before, we can't know for certain what their relationship is, and as long as their bosses trust that whatever happens will not interrupt the production process, and it works for the network, good for them. I am certainly enjoying both casting choices so far.

There are all sorts of implications if this should become a full-blown trend. Will it be one that works, making for better television and films. Or are these two pairings just anomalies, a footnote in the history books? Could one or both of them flame out miserably because adults don't always work well with their parents? Or will it lead to them having even better relationships and more respect for one another? These four could be a bell weather if others are considering the move.

Or I could be making something out of nothing.

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Romanticising Anger Management

After a great penultimate episode, in which Charlie's (Charlie Sheen) father, Martin (Martin Sheen), came to visit, the only thing certain about the FX Anger Management season finale was that it couldn't possibly be as good. But, as a series should in its finale, the focus was on the relationship between two of the characters, rather than a terrific guest star, making it actually pretty good.

Comparatively, that is. I'm not saying Anger Management is a wonderful show. It is much more watchable and enjoyable that Sheen's last sitcom, but it's hardly breaking any new barriers. The things it has going for it are a funny ensemble, humorous plots, and a fair level of heart. Charlie is a good guy, despite his screw ups, which is why "Charlie Gets Romantic" finds you rooting for someone you may have been booing off screen only a year ago. And, with such low expectations going in, it's nice to be pleasantly surprised, which is probably why I'm still watching.

In "Charlie Gets Romantic," Kate (Selma Blair) flips out when Charlie asks her to go to the movies after sex. Their physical relationship is supposed to be emotion-free, and she doesn't want Charlie screwing that up. Charlie, who realizes he does care about her, gently lets her see what no emotion between them is like, and is on board when Kate agrees to restore some feelings to the proceedings.

Does a friends with benefits situation work? Clearly not, according to Anger Management. If anyone could have this kind of thing and be successful at it, it would be these two characters. As they age, though, and realize just how much they like being around one another, they want something more, even if it's hard to admit it. This is completely understandable. Rather than set up a "will they, won't they?" situation, as most sitcoms do, this show presents a "they will in their own time" scenario, with a gradual progress that will probably take awhile longer.

Should Anger Management get it's back 90 pick up, and there aren't many reasons right now to suspect that they won't, that growth needs to continue. In ten episodes, there are some arcs for the characters. They start in one place, and they go somewhere else, even if it's not that far a journey. In the next 90 episodes, it might be tempting to set up a status quo and remain stagnant. This is not the way to go. Being given this many hours is a gift, and it should be used wisely to tell a complete tale. Hopefully, the team behind Anger Management realizes this.

My only real complaint about "Charlie Gets Romantic" is the lack of work many of the great supporting players got. Michael (Michael Boatman) and Brett (Brett Butler) receive nice moments, and since they were each only in half the episodes, it was good to see that. Jennifer (Shawnee Smith) also appears, hopefully lying the seeds for what could be a true, three-way romantic triangle with Charlie and Kate. But the therapy group (Noureen DeWulf, Michael Arden, Derek Richardson, and Barry Corbin), who deliver some of the best scenes in the series, are given hardly anything to do. They make it work, of course, but I would have liked to have seen more from them.

Anger Management ended up being a surprisingly good, not great, show. I look forward to its return soon. Assuming it gets picked up, which it probably will.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Check out my new website, JeromeWetzel.com! Article first published on TheTVKing