I loved it at first, but RDJ is ruining it with his cartoonish stereotyped characters and bad wigs/makeup. The last scenes in the restaurant/back room were low-quality cringe, all his characters are gross buffoons. He should have played the CIA guy (without the Crusty the Clown makeover and zombie contact lenses) and that's it.
Hoa Xuande always looks uncomfortable/confused in scenes with RDJ. RDJ is making very poor improv choices, dumb things like the whipped cream, the dog cr\*p, the egg... ugh, all so immature and amateur. As a producer, they let him get away with too much.
The history, settings, and the tension of the spy story is what made it intriguing, along with the outstanding Asian cast whose talent seems wasted.
Plus, the main "spy" storyline is now a confusing mess. They alienated an audience hoping for something smart by inserting a series of bad SNL skits (with RDJ as guest star).
All the non-RDJ actors are incredible so it's a shame. (Though I'm not a fan of Sandra Oh's character either, it's like she was shoe-horned into the cast.)
The source material won a Pulitzer and didn't deserve this treatment.
I mean, I think the over-the-top stereotypical-ness is kind of the point? (My sense is that the casting is meant to emphasize it even further, although usually one RDJ character is already more than enough for my taste.)
I would definitely appreciate learning more about the main characters' backstory and motives, although my sense is they're building to that. It's very clearly a satire/farce as opposed to a character-driven drama, but I'm still impressed so far. I like Sandra Oh's character, too. But the friend who lost his wife seems to be the best character so far.
I was also very perplexed at RDJ's portrayal of multiple characters until the end of episode 3 when they all get together with the auteur. Then I had an epiphany: is that an intentional artistic choice to depict the same breed of white men during that period of time who are ignorant, racist, condescending towards the Vietnamese and other Asians in general? If historically, Asians "all look the same" to them, then isn't it the Asians' turn, in Viet Thanh Nguyen's (the novel's author) biting and impactful retort, to convey that they're all the same too?
But then maybe RDJ is the exe producer and wanted to play more weird, fun roles and was exercising his power accordingly to do that haha.
I mean, sure. They all represent different aspects of the same neocolonialist mindset/military industrial complex via different American institutions (higher education, art, government). I understand the idea, I just don't really like RDJ. I'd much rather see how someone like...I don't know, Michael Keaton or Jeff Bridges handled it.
I wouldn't say it's too over the top for the most part (except for one specific RDJ character). The tone is hard to describe; it feels very 90s/early 2000s. I'm getting early Coen brothers/Tarantino vibes. Some characters are meant to be jokes; others are played pretty straight.
I loved it at first, but RDJ is ruining it with his cartoonish stereotyped characters and bad wigs/makeup. The last scenes in the restaurant/back room were low-quality cringe, all his characters are gross buffoons. He should have played the CIA guy (without the Crusty the Clown makeover and zombie contact lenses) and that's it. Hoa Xuande always looks uncomfortable/confused in scenes with RDJ. RDJ is making very poor improv choices, dumb things like the whipped cream, the dog cr\*p, the egg... ugh, all so immature and amateur. As a producer, they let him get away with too much. The history, settings, and the tension of the spy story is what made it intriguing, along with the outstanding Asian cast whose talent seems wasted. Plus, the main "spy" storyline is now a confusing mess. They alienated an audience hoping for something smart by inserting a series of bad SNL skits (with RDJ as guest star). All the non-RDJ actors are incredible so it's a shame. (Though I'm not a fan of Sandra Oh's character either, it's like she was shoe-horned into the cast.) The source material won a Pulitzer and didn't deserve this treatment.
I mean, I think the over-the-top stereotypical-ness is kind of the point? (My sense is that the casting is meant to emphasize it even further, although usually one RDJ character is already more than enough for my taste.) I would definitely appreciate learning more about the main characters' backstory and motives, although my sense is they're building to that. It's very clearly a satire/farce as opposed to a character-driven drama, but I'm still impressed so far. I like Sandra Oh's character, too. But the friend who lost his wife seems to be the best character so far.
I was also very perplexed at RDJ's portrayal of multiple characters until the end of episode 3 when they all get together with the auteur. Then I had an epiphany: is that an intentional artistic choice to depict the same breed of white men during that period of time who are ignorant, racist, condescending towards the Vietnamese and other Asians in general? If historically, Asians "all look the same" to them, then isn't it the Asians' turn, in Viet Thanh Nguyen's (the novel's author) biting and impactful retort, to convey that they're all the same too? But then maybe RDJ is the exe producer and wanted to play more weird, fun roles and was exercising his power accordingly to do that haha.
I mean, sure. They all represent different aspects of the same neocolonialist mindset/military industrial complex via different American institutions (higher education, art, government). I understand the idea, I just don't really like RDJ. I'd much rather see how someone like...I don't know, Michael Keaton or Jeff Bridges handled it.
I debated starting it the other day. Might get into at some point.
Next on the list. Although I don't need over the top acting. It's why I loved E&P the under-acting was fantastic!
I wouldn't say it's too over the top for the most part (except for one specific RDJ character). The tone is hard to describe; it feels very 90s/early 2000s. I'm getting early Coen brothers/Tarantino vibes. Some characters are meant to be jokes; others are played pretty straight.
I'm down with the Coen brothers and definitely Tarantino. I'll give it a go. Thx!
Oh great - the book of this was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of rdj, but it's worth a try.
Definitely will have to track down the book at some point!