I Love Dick

The only reason I give this 9 stars is because I wasn't quite compelled to watch the entire season in one sitting (was two episodes shy), but that doesn't take away from how much I loved it. Also, I haven't texted everyone I know about it, because it's not a series for everyone, which also puts it in the 9 stars category.

Until now I've been a lukewarm Kathryn Hahn fan, but she was great in this, and changed my opinion of her acting completely.

Ditto with Kevin Bacon. I never saw him as a sex symbol before (and I grew up during the Footloose era), but hot damn, he was smokin' in this.

This is a series for feminist womyn. I do believe plenty of men would like it, but I doubt your rough and tumble beer-swigging, crotch-scratchers would find one second of it interesting. It's full of liberal-minded characters, some who smoke pot, some who are lesbians, some who experienced same-sex sex in 70's drug-induced states.

Take-away: If you're a right-winged Republican Christian, take a pass. Everyone else with an open mind who enjoys artsy pieces with lots of sex and nudity, as well as dialog that makes you pause the show so you can absorb the multitude of "lightbulb moments" it triggers within your own life, I highly recommend it.

I didn't look at the reviews before watching the show, because I'd heard an interview on it on the radio and really liked the concept. I haven't read the book yet, so I can make no comparison there.

It took me a couple of episodes but then I was really hooked. It's off beat and unusual -- the protagonist is for the most part unlikeable, but that's part of the point I think. Her awkwardness and self-involvement are cringeworthy, but you can't help but see yourself reflected, at least in small percentages, in her. It's an interesting exploration of various female voices, of the women that surround Dick with Dick as an object and and very rarely a subject in the series, taking instead the women to always embody the role of the subjects rather than the men (turning the television /film industry on its head).

One post here wrote "feminism gone awry," but I completely disagree. I loved for instance that they show the viewer various works by female artists throughout the series, in a way that's seamless, thoughtful, and stimulating. I didn't feel that this show was overly political or something like that -- it doesn't have an agenda, but is itself an expression of various crises, struggles, small triumphs and losses, of identity and relationships, growth and personhood, marriage and single- ness (and the bounds of each) with the female perspective at the center of these queries. It doesn't fit in the normal bounds of genre - it's darkly funny, but you'll probably never laugh out loud. Nor is it plot driven. It's it's own thing, but at no point did I find it boring.

The show is interesting and different and genuinely held my attention. And I thought the acting was superb, from all involved and particularly from Kathryn Hahn (not only Kevin Bacon!). It's bizarre and kind of wonderful and I'd be excited for a second season.

This review is based on the whole series, not just the pilot as so many of the other reviews are.

Get past the Pilot, it is probably the worst episode of the series and it will put a lot of people off.

If you can get past the Pilot, be prepared for a weird and wacky ride, it takes a bit of watching, but each episode is less than 30 minutes and I think it was worth it.

The important characters, and there is more than one or three like the inaccurate plot points out, are reasonably well fleshed out and each has a story.

Let me just say this is not a story about a man and a woman falling in love with the same man and leave it there. Work it out for yourself.

There is lots of full frontal nudity, both male and female, but it is not over the top in my opinion and fits with the story.

Some would say the series is very artsy, but I found it not so. It was just a story about people.

I liked it and recommend it.

7/10

I can't believe all the people trashing this Pilot for the new series. We watched it last night and thought it was beyond excellent. The Acting was good, the filming and technique superb, and the quick back and forth dialogue and interplay with characters was first rate. I love the motif of the letter, playing itself out through the whole. Everyone of the characters so far introduced is begging to be unfolded, much less the story itself. If anyone is on the fence because of the reviews, please give it a chance. Quite a few of our friends, whose taste is superb, have loved it too. We are all different in our tastes but this one deserves a chance. I really hope it becomes a series.

During the pilot it becomes immediately apparent that there is not a single redeemable quality in any of the characters. The male protagonist is a sorry caricature of middle age stagnation. The story begins with him but shifts to his wife as the storyteller. His wife starts complaining about everything as soon as the camera hits her, the food, the accommodations, the town, the people...and on and on. Characters are introduced, seem interesting but then their story arcs just end with no clear resolution or even unclear resolution. The story is an endless series of wine gatherings and classes about "art?" I honestly did not believe vapid people still existed like this, I am surprised Andy Warhol was not exhumed to round out the cast. The characters are the stereotypical New Yorkers, roaming around the desert wearing blue blazers and ladder strap sandals...."oh look at us we are sophisticates because we drink wine." I was hoping for so much more.