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‘Mr. Corman’ Is the Rare Show That Proves You Need to Give Great TV Time
You would be excused for wanting to turn off Mr. Corman after the first episode. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s new show is a whirlwind of some of the most eye-rolling tropes of our current wave of sad pseudo-comedies, a series built around an anxious-depressive straight man who has become disenchanted by his own perfectly fine life. But that’s the entire point. If you give this acutely self-aware show a sincere three-episode chance, it will surprise you. Mr. Corman isn’t another sad-sack dramedy; it’s a response to the genre.
Apple TV+ Watch Guide | Mr. Corman
In many ways, Mr. Corman also feels like a direct reaction to Levitt’s arguably best known and most criticized film, 500 Days of Summer. There are a shocking amount of similarities between Summer‘s Tom and Mr. Corman‘s Josh. Both are single men who don’t entirely know what to do with their lives. Both are highly opinionated and confident to the point of nearly being smug. Both are looking for someone to “fix” them, though they would never outwardly admit anything is wrong. Depending on who you ask, 500 Days of Summer is either a sweet romance or an insightful reflection on how this one man uses his girlfriend as a prop for his own ego. Mr. Corman falls comfortably into the latter camp, only instead of projecting his insecurities on Zooey Deschanel, our anxious antihero sucks everyone into his self-pitying wake.
And to hear Josh tell it, he has a lot to hate about his life. When we first meet Josh he’s a middle school teacher who’s given up on his dreams of becoming a professional musician. He was recently dumped by his often mentioned girlfriend, Megan, played by Juno Temple in a role that can only be described as a grounded and authentic pixie dream girl. He’s an adult man who still lives with a roommate, Arturo Castro’s instantly engaging Victor, and he has no romantic prospects or even any real life. Just finding somewhere cool for a Friday night out requires semi-begging texts to long forgotten friends. Josh — in his own estimation of his professional, social, and romantic status — kind of sucks. But as the show unfolds, there’s a nagging sense that Josh is realizing he may suck on a personal level as well.
