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Carmy was the celebrity chef at one of the best restaurants in the world, but returns to Chicago after his brother’s suicide to take over his sandwich shop. That sounds suspiciously like the Hollywood cliché story of the prodigal son who finds his way back home and there learns to appreciate the simplicity of life again.
But The Bear is everything but that. In fact, it’s amazing just how much there is in this little series, which has already become the surprise hit of the season in the US and has dramatically increased the demand for Italian beef sandwiches: a harrowingly intense kitchen chamber game that is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown; a polyphonic, loud ensemble piece full of grandiose, unwieldy figures; a tribute to food workers around the world, whose grotesque working conditions have seldom been so relentlessly portrayed; the deconstruction of the American Dream; a disturbing family drama; a masterpiece of series television that dares to demand a lot from viewers in eight hypernervously staged episodes. (Disney+)
SIMILAR REVIEWS
Show of the week: “Shantaram”
With Charlie Hunnam, Shubham Saraf, Alexander Siddig
Series of the week: “Ruby”
With Anna Böger, Rosina Kaleab, Irene Rindje
Series of the week: “The Old Man”
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brennerman
SIMILAR ARTICLES
Series of the week: “The Funeral”
The ARD six-parter with improvised dialogues and a great cast is terribly realistic, sometimes it veers into the slightly grotesque.
Series of the week: “The discounters”
A lot was improvised in only 23 days of shooting, most of it is actually very funny. There’s a bit too much fecal humor and cheap punchlines, but what’s really a shame is that the season ends with a gag reflex – in episode nine, while the tenth only shows a making-of.
Show of the week: “American Rust”
Sober, intense narrative of bleak life plans, wrong decisions, guilt and atonement – ultimately a drama about the decline of the American middle class.
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