“I don't want to leave it yet…”
no, stay put, I'll find ya…
A few things:
- I am nigh unto destroyed by Frances McDormand's mastery of craft. The last half-hour of episode four, with Bill Murray, is like a fucking master class. Even the simplest details stand out, from the time that Clancy is put down to Olive's ultimate decision to abort her suicide attempt and the break through to her truth is simply bravura.
- If I don't talk more about Bill Murray (he only has maybe three or four frames in the series before the last half-hour), it's only because I kind of expect him to be fucking awesome. It's one of those “Bill Murray Unbelievably Awesome” kind of Bill Murray roles. It makes me enormously disappointed in Dan Aykroyd, actually.
- I find myself wishing that TV didn't necessitate Jane Anderson's paring away so much of the “peripheral” townspeople - I was particularly curious about what Martha Wainwright could have done with Angela's story - but I understand the decision to trim the individual stories to keep focus on Olive as a central character throughout all of the proceedings.
- I'll say it because it's what I think: I have no hate for Carter Burwell, and there's not a thing wrong with the show's score, but Lisa Cholodenko is married to fucking Wendy Melvoin, and Melvoin and Lisa Coleman have how many industry awards and nominations for their score work? (Not even to bring up all the Prince foolishness Wendy & Lisa have gone through over the years.)
- That said, Cholodenko's near-obsession with micromanaging every image, every detail, even every sound…
I'm so blown away by this piece that if she and Melvoin decide they want another baby, I will be the gestational surrogate. (Don't laugh, I'll find a way.)
Yes, you should all watch it. Immediately, if not sooner. Not a lot “happens” (something I personally don't expect from a film based on a set of short stories), but it's really about seeing the smallest details of life for what they are.
Oh, and one other thing: I used to wonder why opiate abuse was such a big thing in New England. Not so much anymore. With as many attempted suicides as there are in this one Maine town, I'm surprised Olive isn't growing poppies rather than tulips. Damn, there are some seriously depressed people up northeast.