The Aussie ‘mood piece’ about old friends in their 60s is ‘witty’ and ‘surprising’
A “tangled web of 60-somethings” juggle “friendship, divorce, bust-ups, romance”, and the “decades of baggage” they “quietly carry on their backs” in this Australian six-parter, said Phoebe Loomes in The Senior. But the “charming and surprising” series shows that people in their 60s have “no appetite to slow down”.
It’s a “mood piece” and an “array of portraits of characters who have actually lived some life” and been “formed by meaningful experiences”, who are introduced to us at a “later stage” than we usually see on our screens, wrote Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. “They and we are only better off for it”.
“Beautifully written” and directed with “requisite subtlety”, the Paramount+ show stars Hugo Weaving as a “bonhomous retired cameraman”. A reunion of his old friends sparks a “feast” of “hilarious and heartbreaking” storylines shot through with the type of “irreverence and honesty that makes you instantly devoted to the whole endeavour”.
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The characters’ history is “part of the attraction of the story”, with “marriages, children, careers, mistakes” and “decades-long friendships” that make their choices “more complicated, not less interesting”, said Scott Podmore on Starts At 60.
And they’re “not old old”, said Anthony Morris on Screen Hub. Yes, they are nearing retirement, but while some of them seem to have everything “worked out”, others are “unsure of themselves, questioning their choices” and “trying to figure out where they’re heading”. The “Sydney backdrop” makes “everyone’s troubles” seem “just that little bit more glamorous”.
“Even if you’re not in the target audience”, this is a “witty, thoughtful and often funny drama” that is well worth a watch. But if you are older and you’ve watched other shows by father-son producers John and Dan Edwards, you “finally” get the chance to “see your generation complain about aches and pains and talk about the good old days”.
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