Shrinking, Sharper, and congrats to these celeb couples

Shenanigans that are both big brain and brain off, plus EmRata/ErAndre and FlorPugh/CharGooch

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Feb 21

Hello!

On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss Shrinking and Sharper, a series and a film that work best if you’re willing to turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

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02:39 Shrinking, streaming on Apple TV+, is far from graceful at striking the balance between profound and lighthearted, but it boasts a likable cast with chemistry and laughs.

A rare Pelin/Jenny agree-to-disagree situation! Shrinking, a not-so-distant relative to Ted Lasso, inherits the footy show’s slightly off-kilter, rose-colored approach to life’s ups and downs, to sometimes mixed results. On the one hand, watching its star ensemble basically hang out and banter with each other is comforting and pleasant. On the other hand, some of the dialogue grates, and the characters share the strangest dynamics. But on the third hand, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief each week, it’s a nice “turn your brain off” kind of show that may even have the potential to find deeper emotional resonance (fingers crossed).

After you’ve had a chance to watch a few episodes, let us know where you stand on this issue:

20:54 Sharper, streaming on Apple TV+, doesn’t quite stand up to close scrutiny, but it is both fun and visually striking.

Sharper doesn’t strive to be anything more than what it is — an entertaining, sleekly produced, frothy kind of thriller — and that’s fine. Admirable, even! As it is, the film is mostly a great time, with its string of reveal after reveal guaranteed to satisfy the kind of person whose favorite part of mystery stories is when the detective lines everyone up in a room and reviews how everything unfolded (me). It starts to lose steam toward the end, and there could be a little more heat to this movie, but that doesn’t take too much away from the overall enjoyment of it.

P.S. Here’s the interview with director Benjamin Caron that we mentioned.