James Marsden comedy about the jury in a fake trial

borate, The sampleAnd Paul T Goldman have pioneered a decidedly modern comedy brand in which fact and fiction are closely intertwined. On the surface, jury duty appears to be following their example, as it is a lengthy ruse staged for the benefit (or is it punishment?) of a duped participant. However, Amazon Freevee’s 10-part series (premiering April 7) is less a borderline, pointy-headed affair than an empty one Hidden Camera review (through The Truman Show) stretched to unsatisfactory lengths. It’s proof that what Sacha Baron Cohen and Nathan Fielder do isn’t easy to emulate.

jury duty‘s trademark is Ronald Gladden, a 29-year-old solar panel contractor who arrives at Huntington Park Superior Court in Los Angeles County unaware of the scam being waged by co-creators Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, showrunner Cody Heller and Director is committed Jake Szymanski. This trick: Everything that takes place is a farce and everyone involved is an actor. Ronald is the only “real” person in this made-up situation that offers an opportunity to assess his tolerance for nonsense.

It begins with an overwhelmingly wannabe-crazy civil suit against business owner Jacquiline Hilgrove, who is suing former employee Trevor Morris for showing up drunk and high at her factory and allegedly peeing and defecating on a huge batch of custom shirts ordered for her had become an important major influencer event.

The case will be led by considerate judge Alan Rosen, who claims this is his “swan song” after a 38-year career, and kind bailiff Nikki Wilder. Before the opening arguments can begin, however, Randall must first be selected for the 12-person jury – a process in which he meets a host of oddballs including James Marsden, who plays himself and is reluctant to have to serve, when he’s about to land a role in a movie called “Lonely pine‘ by a famous (unnamed) director. Randall recognizes the actor from the start, although he can’t name many of his notable roles (apart from X-Men), resulting in weak banter Sonic the Hedgehog that never comes close to the awkward levity it aspires to.

Unfortunately, the same is true of Randall’s interactions with his other (fake) conscripts, all of whom are meant to be colorfully comical, yet are restrained from acting too outlandishly lest they be revealed to be imposters. Small business owner Ken Hyun, ride-sharing driver Noah Price, and retail worker Jeannie Abruzzo are all distinctive and eccentric, but not wacky enough to generate genuine laughs. The only truly inspired outsider is Quality Control Assistant Todd Gregory, who enters the field on day one with a cantina backpack through which he sips liquids and emulsified solids, and later wears “stool pants” (or as he calls them, “chants” ) appears “): a homemade invention that combines crutches, knee pads and a harness and allows him to sit down at any time.

Todd’s shenanigans come closest jury duty becomes a legitimate absurdity as the series constantly pulls its punches to keep Ronald in the dark. While he admits things are “crazy” (and “like a reality TV show”), what’s presented on screen is rather lukewarm. Thanks to Marsden orchestrating a paparazzi photoshoot, the judge confiscates the entire jury for the duration of the trial, which means they must live in a hotel and remain isolated from the outside world (i.e., no cell phones). This is certainly a clever way of locking everyone in a controllable bubble. What follows, however, is ho-hum, from the group struggling to figure out what food orders to place and playing video games in their free time, to Ronald – who has been made foreman to give him extra responsibilities – who tries to push the senior juror Barbara wakes up during testimony.

Over the period of jury dutyOver the two weeks, Randall is repeatedly confronted with strange scenarios and forced to speak his mind, such as Noah’s admission that his girlfriend Heidi went on vacation with a friend named Cody who may have a male romantic interest. The problem with such arrangements is twofold. First, none of these dilemmas is particularly amusing in and of itself. Second, their greater purpose is never clear. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky’s streak seems to test Randall to see if he’s a good guy … and nothing more. The scheme serves no greater purpose than to gauge the protagonist’s patience and virtue – hardly an intriguing subject considering Randall comes across as just an everyman who takes his jury responsibilities as seriously as one would expect.

In his last episode jury duty reveals that Randall was originally selected from a pool of applicants who were told they would be taking part in a documentary about the justice system. It’s clear that Randall was chosen because he’s a calm and conscientious person, and the series confirms that he’s inspired by a variety of incidents in which he refuses to blame his colleagues for their misconduct (like having fun in the bathroom). taking the blame for their indiscretions (like Marsden clogging a toilet) and sensitively bringing them together as a unified team (during the final deliberations). Randall always works for the greater good and does no more than laugh and wide-eyed in astonishment when confronted with the bizarreness of his fellow judges and the overriding idea is that this proves that he is a shining example of decency, compassion and civic duty is .

It is, and yet the overarching question hovers over it jury duty remains: Is that all about this stunt? Pulling back the curtain for both viewers and Randall, the series finale reveals the myriad production mechanics employed to pull off this endeavor, and it’s hard not to believe that a great deal of time and energy was poured into a rather bland and unenlightening one endeavors were wasted. Randall’s demeanor throughout the trial is agreeable and tolerant, and in an unexpected final twist, he’s literally rewarded for it (and dubbed a “hero” no less). However, his ordeal is just a drawn-out hidden-camera stunt with nothing interesting — or, most frustratingly, funny — to say.

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