Seth Rogen's 'The Studio' Captures the Chaos of Moviemaking | Review
This Apple TV Cringe Comedy Has a Heart of Pure Gold
Okay, I know what you’re all thinking: What in the country fried f*** are you doing writing a review for television show on a movie Substack? Is there no sanctity anymore? Must everything, even our precious cinematic art form, come back around to the glutton of television?
These are fair questions, kind (and vulgar) reader. But, to paraphrase a certain animated warthog and meerkat, hakuna your-tatas. There is good reason to celebrate this particular show on Cinemantics.
Produced, written, starring, and sometimes directed by Seth Rogen, The Studio explores the chaotic life of Matt Remick, a newly appointed head of a movie studio. Desperate for celebrity approval and the chance to make “cinema” and not movies, he and his executive team (featuring Catherine O’Hare, Kathryn Hahn, and Ike Barinholtz) must juggle corporate demands with creative ambitions as they try to keep movies alive and relevant.
Not intrigued yet? Well, after only seeing the first three episodes, my simplest pitch to make is imagine the venerated Curb Your Enthusiasm if Larry David was lovable and made movies. Rogen’s Matt Remick is neither cantankerous or hostile; his sole passion in life is movies and making them. Whatever situation the episode finds himself encountering, we leave neither hating him or wishing ill on him for his well-intentioned flubs — whether it be killing a Martin Scorcese-directed movie about Jonestown or ruining a perfect oner at Golden Hour with his car parked in the driveway. His heart is never misplaced. He’s just a dopey guy trying to capture magic.
In that sense, while the comedy is often cringey and vulgar, it’s a deeply empathetic portrayal of the studio system and those who are tasked with being the middle men between corporate suits and the principled artists.
It’s not easy, folks. They love movies but are the ones responsible for making sure they make money. They have to kill Scorcese’s Jonestown movie to make the drink Kool-Aid into a franchise; they have to talk out of both sides of their mouths to make an irate Ron Howard cut the deeply personal ending. They’re often the bad guy but they don’t want to be. That tension at the heart of the most populist form of art makes The Studio’s premise and characters incredibly watchable and engaging.
A real shout out belongs to Rogen and co-creator and writer Evan Goldberg for finding the right balance between pathos and cringe, as well as cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra. Berra’s camera hardly stops moving the entire time. Crackling with an undefinable personality and energy, it matches the energy of its characters and wild scenarios with gusto.
Only three episodes in, here’s hoping Rogen and company keep up the antics and its unapologetic love for movies — cause we need it now more than ever.
‘The Studio’ is rated TV-MA. New episodes stream every Wednesday on Apple TV.