This 8-episode series gets a 10/10 from me. It's one of the best adaptations of a novel that I've ever seen -- meticulous rendering of society in the 1950's/60's with all its high and lows and the feel of transtion into a new era struggling to be born. I read the book by Bonnie Garmus before seeing this, and although I guess the true purists won't like some of the choices made in translation to the screen, I will just say ignore that. The series has to stand on its own, and it does -- spectacularly. The book is a good thing, and so is this.
Some parts of the book, like Elizabeth's time as a team rower, are there but de-emphasized, and other parts, like neighbor Harriet and her deep involvement in civil rights, are brought to the forefront. The episode on Elizabeth's rescue dog Six Thirty is wonderful (and I do NOT care that the golden-doodle breed didn't exist then -- the dog is utterly charming and fits perfectly into the narrative). Overall, though some scene-to-scene transitions feel choppy I think that's because they are trying, and by and large succeeding, at getting a lot of material in and showing how multifaceted Elizabeth's life becomes with its ups and downs and surprises. It's trying to illustrate a whole society-as-it-was and do it with enough depth that it's a real, living, time and place. Every bit of the story is engaging and after every episode I really wanted to see the next one and resented that I had to wait a week.
The cast? It's a terrific ensemble, but above all it rests on Brie Larson's shoulders. I think this is a role that genuinely suits her more than (say) Captain Marvel does -- Elizabeth Zott is cerebral, feisty, confident yet vulnerable, open yet frosty, loving yet prickly -- a challenging mix of characteristics that Larson plays compellingly. After having read the book and formed my own impression of Elizabeth, I can't think of any actress who would have done it better. Alice Halsey as young daughter Madeline is great at being a quite unselfconscious chip off the block -- so like her mother and yet neither of them quite realize it. Aja Naomi King as Harriet, Lewis Pullman as Calvin, Kevin Sussman as Walter Pine, and lots of others are just fine.
The messages if any? In no particular order what I saw was (a) life throws you curves, (b) misfits can heal each other, (c) hold on to your code when faced with oppression and fight back with integrity.
And I finally realized who Brie Larson reminds me of, looking at the 1950's hairstyles and clothing in this series: Grace Kelly, of course. If they ever decide to do a biopic of Kelly, the choice of actress for the title role is obvious.
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