I Love Dick

I love Kathryn Hahn. I love Kevin Bacon. I have been to Marfa. Nice people tolerating artists. Artists laughing at locals behind their backs. But here's my point: authenticity in the portrayal of Texans and Texas is something Hollywood will never get. In the scene in Man City where Ms. Willis removes her clothes- the Texas flag is upside down. White bar on top. Okay, I'm done here.

Being a big fan of Jill Soloway's Tranparent, it seemed worthwhile to check out her failed pilot, I Love Dick. It was not worthwhile. At all.

In I Love Dick, a couple moves to a small town of writers headed over by Kevin Bacon as someone who is billed as cool and charismatic but who actually just seems like a pretentious jerk (charismatic jerks can also be found in Transparent - Soloway seems to be intrigued by them).

The wife becomes instantly fascinated by Bacon, even after he goes on a mansplaining rant denigrating everything she's ever done.

You can't feel sorry for her, because she's an awful person. As is her husband. Really, this is just a show about awful people. When midwest Republicans talk about New York liberal elites, I think they are imagining people like these horrible people.

Ugh.

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

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.

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.