I find the acting strangely off, dare I say bad? Even from usual great actors. It has a very theatre stage feel to it, like a musical but with no music.
I wonder is this intentional? Or is it bad scripting and direting?
I totally agree. To me, this series is like sour milk. I don’t understand why people, including my spouse, like it.
shareYes, quite a bit of over-the-top shouting and arm waving. The last episode I watched consisted mainly of unpleasant people yelling at each other. The period clothes are nice.
shareConsidering how well-directed AND scripted the show is, I’d say its acting is intentional. They deliver performances that are perfectly suited for this flashy and very upbeat series. And on that note, capturing the feel of musicals, especially those from the 1950’s, is definitely what I get from the acting and entire tone of the series. So, is this type of acting overdone and no longer interesting? Not to me. As far as I’m concerned, it completely works for this series.
As for the series as a whole, I initially thought it was going to be an acclaimed series loved by some but it wouldn’t do much for me (admirable production values and perhaps not much else). Nope, I was fortunately incorrect. Call me a fan.
The acting is nothing like that of musicals from the 1950s. It's more like acting written and performed by people who imagine what the 1950s might have been like, but are just making shit up because they really have no clue.
shareThis very animated acting was the same in the very successful run of 'The Gilmore Girls' (also by the Palladinos). I think it worked better in TGG - it was new, fresh and entertaining. Now it's kind of tiresome and draining.
shareI think it's just the style and look of the show. It reminds me of Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy, which I found very irritating, but years later I realised it was just the style the director was going for. It goes along with the bubble gum colors of her dresses and the perky makeup. The character herself is very focused on her looks, at least in the episodes I've seen so far (eg wearing complete makeup to bed and then taking it off after her husband has gone to sleep, and putting it back on before he wakes up) so I think it fits the character and the style of the show. Looked at from one viewpoint, she is a fast-talking and witty person, but from another viewpoint, she is someone very brittle and concerned with how she appears, and she wants to believe that she is very witty because she needs to believe that in order to make her new life work. I think all the elements of the show's style work together to give the story an upbeat and humorous feel, which contrasts with the reality that we know when this kind of thing happened to actual women (being left by a husband) in the 1950s, it was something they probably couldn't recover from, financially or personally.
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