ShangLuda Admirable film.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
jcjs333 I'll probably watch the 2 seasons but i'll force myself to do so. One scene tells the whole story. Laura Dern's boss says 'i thought you were fired'. Laura says 'no because they found out i'm right'. But, truth is, the company didn't fire her because they feared her self centered, gimme gimme, oh poor me, attitude was going to cause the corporation money. The company showed its petty nature in that they are afraid of her. Another reviewer had it right on saying this is about a shallow, narcissistic, self centered girl'. I know the show means well and is humorous and entertaining for a couple episodes but, quickly, the character becomes to irritating and stupid she couldn't be real. She's a composite of do-gooder misguided to the hilt living in 'spiritual make believe' trying to fix and preach her ways to everyone else making them jump to her tunes. A control freak extraordinaire who doesn't help herself or empathize with anyone. In the background 'narrations' Laura pays lip service to 'enlightenment'. Perhaps, she's on an eventual enlightened state but the whole show is this woman who thinks she's better than anyone else and can't take a hint that she's dumber than anyone else around her and , maybe , one of many reasons she's divorced, messed up, and living with her mother. And has no friends. Sometimes, i think the show wants me to feel sorry for Laura. I wish they'd stick her in a straight jacket. Not really. The company ought fire her. No good company would put up with such an immature little gal walking around in a perpetual break down bothering everyone with small stuff. She's immature to the max. If she had any real beliefs into action she'd get a real job. At the show's start she goes to work at a homeless shelter. She can have the job and claims "I CAN NOT LIVE ON $25,000 PER YEAR". She's unwilling to sacrifice'. She's late for work and disobeys all the time and doesn't get fired. The boss of the homeless shelter let go of his corporate job to work for others but Laura will not help others unless she's making lots of money and taxing and hurting others. She's a living virus expecting all others to kiss her rear end and she appears not to have any clue she's so ugly, self loathing sitting on a fur lined pity pot. Self pity is ugly and Laura Dern plays a misguided, naive, ugly girl. And, in the background she narrates this 'phony spiritual make believe enlightened hogwash'. I love the acting though and her boss is one of the 'good guys'. The show doesn't hold up. So much more could be done with this. The show is right on the edge of being awesome but remains bogged down in this bog irritating the heck out of me losing it's humor. You know what's next. Hi, I'm Laura Dern's character and i'm here to tell you how dumb i think you and everyone else is. And, i'm hear to make you listen to how hard i have it. I am suffering , oh poor me , oh poor you , please let me destroy your life like i'm destroying mine. And, i will do this to you even if i have to seduce you to do so. Here, look at me. See how sick and messed up i am. Let me use you to mess us both up. Perhaps, the show it meant to show us most people are this way or were supposed to think they are. But, hardly anyone is this shallow. We all have some of this but , wow , nothing like Laura.
Douglas Jones I just clicked on this for lack of better looking choices on Amazon Instant and ended up binge watching all of the 2 seasons. It's so well done, with the writing, the acting, the story, the cinematography, the creative parts. I love this show. Laura Dern and think she is a very under- appreciated actress. She is great in this show. To see that she's the executive producer makes me respect her even more. There are so many story lines to follow as well and they play it all out in a very smart way. The flash backs and the little reveals of each character's story is done really well. I feel like this show could go on and on for many seasons and still be very good. I'm not quite sure why this show isn't just as popular as Mad Men. Maybe since it's on HBO and many people don't subscribe to HBO. I feel like if this show was made into a Netflix Original it would be wildly popular like House of Cards. I feel it's just as enjoyable to watch as both of the previous very popular shows I mentioned.
Man Bok I use IMDb on a regular basis just for reading reviews, although I always felt compelled to write my own reviews, it was not enough as most other people already have said, what i would have said.For this specific title, I had to write something.First of all, the show has been canceled this year and I'm glad. Season 2 final leaves a great ending point and I highly doubt a 3rd or 4th season could have topped it. Sometimes it is better to leave a little bit open for speculation, but not too open, so that people get satisfaction of a well rounded ending. It is perfect.Why did I title this review "mirror"? Well, this series exposes and shows the truth about human nature and social interaction. About life. While watching it, sometimes I found it almost unbearable (like a car crash that you can't watch, but can't look away), because it was too true, showing the ugly reality. I'm fairly sure, many, many people can relate to some degree, or 100% degree to the characters in this show. All the traits and natures of us humans are shown from hypocrisy to forgiveness, love, hate, hopes, dreams, imagination and clash with real world, disappointment, resentment, regret, success, happiness and so on. Right, so you think you might have seen it all before? Not quite.It's not only the exposure of human nature, but we are constantly kept on our heels through this series, as happiness doesn't mean happy. Success doesn't mean successful. It plays with your mind and shows the viewer his/her own imperfections. How we judge and assume, how we guess and conclude. It works so well from episode one. It could be something you disregard, but if you stick around, the well written script and the extra ordinary acting by all individuals involved will grab you.
TonyCamonte84 'Enlightened' is not particularly easy to get into, which may be the reason for it not being discussed more often as a great show. I felt it flew a bit under the radar, but as I watched both of its seasons I realised that's not due to its quality.It took some guts for the writers to focus an entire show on a completely unlikable person such as Amy Jellicoe. 'The Sopranos' have a mob boss as the protagonist, 'Mad Men' a habitual adulterer, 'The Wire' focuses on gangsters and equally morally bankrupt policemen, politicians, etc., and Dexter is centred around a serial-killer, but all those shows manage to create sympathy for their protagonists by showing them as very flawed in certain aspects yet also very likable in others. We root for Dexter Morgan, Tony Soprano or Don Draper, but find little to create sympathy or empathy with Enlightened's egotistical, annoying, and narcissistic protagonist. It's a gamble, but one that pays off, I feel.Very few other shows manage to create such a good balance between comedy and drama, and portray a character as honestly without over-dramatising the bad nor the good sides. At its best 'Enlightened' is a spot-on character study of somebody you would never want to meet, that tells you a bit more about human nature. At its worst it still manages to be very entertaining, funny, as well as well-produced, superbly acted and fluidly paced.I, for one, like the first season a bit more, as I felt the 2nd season suffered from focusing on the plot too much, which left the characterisation a bit under-developed in season 2. Nonetheless, even that was very good television with moments that bordered on brilliance. It's a shame HBO canceled it, as I thought it was among the best shows on television alongside the still-running 'Mad Men' and 'Boardwalk Empire'.
