Coastal Elites

"Coastal Elites" (2020 release; 87 min.) brings 5 monologues (the opening credits actually call them "rants") about what life in the COVID-19 and Trump era is like. In the 1st piece ("Lock Her Up"; 25 min.) Bette Midler plays Miriam Nessler, a liberal Jewish widow. She is in the interrogation room of the local jail, following a complaint by a Trump supporter that Miriam intimidated him. Miriam goes from cold to hot, ranting and raving against Trump and his Kool-Aid drinking supporters. "That man's name", she hisses, unable to say Trump's name... Subsequent monologues are "Supergay" (18 min.), about a gay actor playing a gay superhero; "The Blonde Cloud" (15 min.) about a Black women who went to boarding school with Ivanca, who now wants to befriend her again; "Because I Have To Tell Someone" (16 min.), about a liberal woman attending a family reunion, where everyone is a Trump supporter, and last but not least "President Miriam" (13 min.), about a nurse getting to know Miriam (yes, the same Miriam as in the first piece) as she battles COVID-19 in a NY hospital.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film directed by Jay Roach (the Austin Powers franchise; the Meet the Fockers franchise; etc.). This, though, is unlike any other film he has made. It brings 5 monologues that are filmed in a Zoom-like setting. Very little production. Instead we listen to these intense and for the most overtly political rants and raves that address what life is like in the current Trump and COVID-19 era. As you can well imagine, not many kind words are said about Trump. OK, none. So if you are someone who is drinking the Trump Kool-Aid by the gallons, you may want to watch something else, as your Dear Leader is chewed up and spit out. While Bette Midler's piece is the longest and highest profile, I thought the very last piece, about Midler's character Miriam as experienced by a registered nurse (played to great effect by Kaitlyn Dever, is in fact the best or at least the most moving. I'm not going to say anything more. Just watch!

"Coastal Elites" premiered this weekend on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. If you are deeply troubled by life in the COVID-19 era and under the (so-called) leadership of Dear Leader Trump, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I'd read a few snooty reviews that dismissed Coastal Elites as smug, self-satisfied, preaching to the choir... etc. The predictable put-downs of critics and commentators who always have to know better. In fact, it's smart, incisive, extremely timely and ultimately quite moving - and while being simultaneously depressing and uplifting. It's exactly the kind of whip-smart political theatre we need right now, when we can't even go to a theatre. Bette Midler is her usual powerhouse self as Miriam, a feisty Jewish momma who channels the collective rage at he who shall not be named. Dan Levy gives a nuanced turn as an actor with mixed feelings about his auditions for a gay superhero. And Kaitlyn Dever gives a restrained, yet masterful performance as a nurse on the front line. All five monologues are exceptionally well-written and brilliantly acted. And all the dopey 1/10 reviews from witless MAGA-hat wearing morons only go to prove that they are, as ever, utterly clueless and doomed to wallow in their cluelessness forever.

Each of the five pieces is a tour de force. The writing and the acting are incredible and it all fits together powerfully in the end. I recommend viewers watch it in a quiet place where they can really pay attention and appreciate the performance. This isn't a show that will do well in a room of distractions.

The actors just keep on talking and talking. Nothing else happens. They seem to make a political statement, but I have no interest in it.

They have to make this a series. Each performance expertly written by Paul Rudnick.