Maniacis as much fun as getting your head examined.
The miserable Netflix miniseries, debuting Sept. 21, could only have been made in 2018.
Years ago, we complained how networks sanded away all their projects sharp edges.
Credit: Michele K. Short/Netflix
Now, unfettered creative freedom shall bestow upon us a misshapen behemoth of unconditional sharpness.
Nifty idea, to build a dystopia out of the gig economy.
The Milgrims are contempo aristocrats with a family company suffering a very trendy sex scandal.
Meanwhile, Owens in love with Jeds lady (Jemima Kirke, criminally wasted).
And he just lost his job.
Owens not handling all this stress too well.
Visions or are they???
provoke him towards a grand destiny.
One hallucination or could it berealiteeeeeeeee???
resembles a mustached double of his brother.
Weve been chosen to save the world, says the shadow Jed.
Ah, the madness of young men who think their cruel fate is to save everything!
RobotandLegionto the playfully anti-individualist heros journeys underpinningAdventure TimeandSteven Universe.
Owen believes hes received a higher calling.
He keeps seeing a blonde woman out of the corner of his eye, on every second-screen experience.
Its Annie, in the flesh!
Im going to save the world!
But then episode 2 flips backwards, providing the backstory for Annie.
Shes another flavor of sadsack, a barely employed sponger with a burgeoning drug addiction.
Hard to say precisely whats accomplished with these parallel prologues, besides proving this show sure can tell.
The story properly begins with Neberdines drug trial, a psychological experiment merging computer science with biochemistry.
I worry about spoiling too much, although anyone who sawInceptiongot spoiled eight years ago.
Like Christopher Nolans thriller,Maniacsends its characters reality-hopping through different virtual-sleepy scenarios, thoughManiachas more wigs.
These fantasies dont feel character-generated.
Instead, its a series of what-ifs, the actors withstanding sketches forced upon them.
What about Jonah Hill as a gangster covered in tattoos?
What if Emma Stone were a fantasy character?
Its a bunch of multi-reality brain magic s, Annie says, which I guarantee was the elevator pitch.
And the story-splitting nature ofManiacgives the stars the rare opportunity to give several bad performances in one project.
But their dynamic sinks the show; they successfully lack chemistry in every universe.
The only real fun inManiaccomes from the supporting duo.
Did I mention Sally Field?
The material with Field, Theroux, and Mizuno feels half-mad, playfully campy.
(Theres a depressed computer.)
Its the same story every time, and I am sick of it, Annie says near the end.
And then youre literally watching characters on a TV show explain the themes of their adventures.
If I wanted that, Id watch moreWestworld.
Im not sure what went wrong.
On paper, multi-reality brain magic s sounds right up my street.
ButManiacs more fun to describe than experience.
Somerville adaptedManiacfrom Norwegian series, which is also on Netflix.
I assume its better, because everything is in Norway.
Its possible that the sheer manic energy ofManiacs middle chapters will work for some people.
The narrative zigzags with a brazen lack of purpose.
Someone goes blind from hysteria.
Someone else transforms into a bird.
And thats the worst thing aboutManiac.
For all its manic poses and deflationary snark, its ultimately patronizingly sentimental.
In a weird but endlessly obvious way, Annie and Owen actuallyweredestined to meet.
Oweniskind of a hero.
Anniedoesneed to get over her trauma using science.
(There is, lord help us, a climactic courtroom scene.)
My French is rusty, but: Ceci nest pas une good tv show.C-
