Angry Boys is a hugely ambitious new series from Chris Lilley – and one that I feel has been misunderstood by some viewers. While not as consistently funny as his previous shows, I found this to be the most engaging – with well drawn characters who you grow to care about more and more as the series progresses. Even though there were only a handful of hilarious moments per episode, I still felt that the series was solidly entertaining – incorporating moments of obscurity, profanity, profundity and tragedy – but while also managing to be funny and uplifting.
Some have criticised the amount of characters that Lilley brings to the screen in this series, but I never considered this aspect of the show to be excessive. Across 12 episodes, 6 characters felt like the right amount – and not every character is featured in every episode. Furthermore, the plots were often interwoven – both physically and thematically. Others have criticised the appearance of the characters – suggesting that they are not believable, or that they look too much like Lilley. However, this was never an issue for me. Using Gran as an example, the mannerisms, the attitude and the voice were more than enough for me to feel that she was her own character. I actually consider the understated physical differentiation between each character to be a huge triumph – demonstrating Lilley's great skill as an actor, while immersing the viewer into a strange Being John Malkovich esque parallel universe where all of the main characters look exactly the same.
Overall, I feel that Angry Boys is an accomplished series, but perhaps not one that will benefit from repeated viewings to quite the same extent as his previous shows. Nonetheless, I feel that it is further proof of Chris Lilley's diverse range of talents – and I for one cannot wait to see what he does next.
(Can't finish the review without giving a special mention to Jen Okazaki - Chris' most appalling and hilarious creation to date!)
