THE CONSULTANT (2023)
Okay, the primary reason I watched THE CONSULTANT on Prime was Christoph Waltz -- he's such a weirdo, he's always compelling to watch. And, unsurprisingly, he's the primary reason to watch this show.
For all the Bentley Little horror fanboy musings out there, this one seemed so heavily Don DeLillo-influenced to me -- the sort of dark corporate satire kind of thing rooted in obligatory pointless weirdness. There's even a DeLillo name-drop in one of the episodes, referring to someone named Denise DeLillo -- ooh, easter egg. *yawns into back of hand*
And it's a willfully weird series that almost seems to lack the courage of its (lack of) convictions. Big shocker: people effectively mortgage their souls to advance in the corporate world.
The set-piece strangeness of it all felt very paint-by-numbers to me. Maybe I'm too jaded, I don't know. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either. I didn't even particularly like it. Waltz is always entertaining to watch, but I found myself glancing at my phone several episodes in, because I wasn't particularly engaged with it or the characters within.
I guess I'd give it three (out of five) stars, for being moderately entertaining, if otherwise unexceptional. I'm a tough crowd, but the affected strangeness of it felt forced to me, and narratively, the arcs just aren't quite there.
***
For all the Bentley Little horror fanboy musings out there, this one seemed so heavily Don DeLillo-influenced to me -- the sort of dark corporate satire kind of thing rooted in obligatory pointless weirdness. There's even a DeLillo name-drop in one of the episodes, referring to someone named Denise DeLillo -- ooh, easter egg. *yawns into back of hand*
And it's a willfully weird series that almost seems to lack the courage of its (lack of) convictions. Big shocker: people effectively mortgage their souls to advance in the corporate world.
The set-piece strangeness of it all felt very paint-by-numbers to me. Maybe I'm too jaded, I don't know. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either. I didn't even particularly like it. Waltz is always entertaining to watch, but I found myself glancing at my phone several episodes in, because I wasn't particularly engaged with it or the characters within.
I guess I'd give it three (out of five) stars, for being moderately entertaining, if otherwise unexceptional. I'm a tough crowd, but the affected strangeness of it felt forced to me, and narratively, the arcs just aren't quite there.
***
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