O Faz Nada

I found this series so curious I kept watching, no idea of where it was headed. Then before I knew it, I was swept into another world with people I cared about.

It ended too soon. I wanted more. Wanted to stay with their company. The lead actor and actress are superb. I loved the food attention. And the foreign setting and customs.

The series is quiet. You lean forward into it to not miss a trick. The main character is so attractive while being innocently cranky. Yes he's preposterous, but completely real and reasonable, to himself. And so to us.

I was completely charmed by De Niro. Never have seen him so honest.

Bravo. More please.

I am not a fan of "Curb your exuberance" . In fact I despise it. But this Argentinian show is very engrossing.

The scenery makes Buenos Aires feel like Paris of the seventies. Brandini, as a food critic who cannot get the motivation to finish a book he has received an advance on, is brilliant. DeNiro has cameo roles explaining, in English, some cultural terms. He does it in a simple, face to camera style. Lovely.

The acting is convincing and has a scent of Aldomavar about it. Like Bon-Bon El Perro. Gentle pace. Realistic feel.

The idea that over forty years, the house keeper had created a manual of cooking, cleaning and recipes was so sweet. The deceased voice reads the contents as Brandini tries to follow.

To someone who is bilingual in Spanish and English this series was music to my ears. I really enjoyed De Niro lightly narrating in the beginning while most of the series was in Spanish. The Argentina language and culture came through so beautifully authentic and genuine. The verbiage used to describe the flavors were so poetic and romantic that it made the foodie in me, love food even more. This was so well written. It's a simple story yet had so much depth. I felt very connected with the character's passion and struggles. Luis Brandoni is definitely a very talented actor. I was really impressed with the acting. If you want a series that's easy to watch yet keeps you wanting to watch more, this one is really really good!

I started out hating this tale of an old gentry-class creep looking for a new servant to wipe his behind. How about doing your own housework? Ugh, Latin America is the land of masters and servants. Most households with even a middle class income have some other human being at their disposal to do housework. This servant class is highly abused from what I have seen first-hand and read about.

The guy's long-time servant croaks and the first thing that occurs to him is that he needs someone to wait on him hand and foot like else his former doormat.

I held on and became charmed, if not by the protagonist, then by the city and language of Buenos Aires. I enjoyed the language lessons as there is so much new for someone living in Spain. The accent is sort of cool, and the vos familiar pronoun form is something we don't use here.

The weakest link in this is Robert De Niro. Between his pigeon Italian and Manuel's zero command of English, their conversations were just silly and stupid. De Niro just seemed to be phoning it in. If he were left out, this would have been 9 for me.

Probably the best Argentine mini-series ever. And I am not exaggerating. Extremely touching while still being funny, with a very simple story behind it, but extremely sophisticated. I am not surprised that the same people responsible for El Encargado, another wonderful series from the same country, are behind it.

The cast is led by an exceptionally talented veteran Argentine actor, Luis Brandoni, accompanied by a Paraguayan newcomer who brings just the right balance to the story. Not to mention, of course, the special participation of none other than Robert De Niro, in one of the most tender roles of his career. It is already rare to see an actor of his stature doing television, but to do it with total dedication, in a distant country and with the certainty of giving the best of himself.

Be sure to watch it.