catalpafamily

The single-cam gimmick seems to be paying off as cover for an incredibly thin script that bounces among cliches and hooks. Each of the four episodes borders on a Christopher Guest mockumentary of the ever-so-gritty-and-real genre, but this third episode exceeds satire -- wholly abandoning accuracy for dramatic moments. The assumption seemed to be: "our audience is so stupid that they will believe that this is a realistic portrayal of professional work and of child mental health, no matter what ... the more absurdly unreal, the more real they'll perceive it to be." If a psychologist functioned as depicted, other psychologists would be legally required to initiate a report.

Continuity, dialogue, and acting are somewhat inconsistent. The young boy's gauze eye patch somehow survives a raucous swim to remain in place for days (with variable appearances from day to day). Some aspects of the script are excellent, but some exchanges are so cliched that actors struggle to stay genuinely in character. That's all easy to overlook because some aspects of the acting and some shots are powerfully real, AND the overall arc is meaningful. This movie tells a good story, and I can well imagine many sorts of young people enjoying it thoroughly and being anxious to discuss it afterwards. Reaching the end of my review, I realized.

Understood in the correct context (roughly, "after-school special"), Endlings shines as a well-told story with compelling characters. Yes, the depth of character development is not what we experience in adult serials or Hollywood movies; we often wonder, "hold it, why...," and it is easy to imagine how finer-grain character details could make Endlings even better. Still, these children and this foster father are wonderfully real characters -- rising from and toward real challenges in the midst of fun fantasy challenges. Many foster parents are wrestling with their own losses and being emotionally present. Yes, yes, we want to know more about the children's backstories -- but what is revealed rings true. And lotsa luck finding any such portrayals elsewhere in television and movies. I watched this with my teenage foster son and, initially, we had some great conversations after each episode. Eventually, it got to the point where he would grab the remote and pause mid-show to talk about what was happening with a character. The actors are quite good, and the acting is similarly good (though a bit constrained by the production approach in this genre). The reviews/ratings to date are misleading. Children love MacNCheese and a Michelin restaurant rating for MacNCheese would be wholly misleading regarding your child's enjoyment of that food. Adult scifi enthusiasts who wandered into this show would be disappointed. Kids won't be disappointed (and parents might enjoy some shared quality time).