REVIEW: ‘Life & Beth’ shows real life
This review contains spoilers from episodes 1-4
It’s a tale as old as time: A woman realizes she’s dissatisfied with life, moves to a small town and finds love in an unexpected place. Hulu’s new comedy series “Life & Beth” is exactly this, but it somehow manages to tell the story in a new, engaging way.
Created and produced by comedian Amy Schumer, “Life & Beth” is a witty, fun exploration of a woman’s life unraveling. Beth (Schumer) is a 40-year-old wine saleswoman trying to convince herself she’s happy with her life, but she begins to question her choices and find out whom she really wants to be following an unexpected incident.
What exactly is Schumer’s new comedy about?
That’s hard to discern with a plot that jumps between timelines and never really seems to find its footing storywise. The first episode opens with Beth meeting with two clients who are never introduced and don’t appear in the series again. The scene sloppily introduces Schumer’s character by having her break down and give the clients her life story, but it’s a confusing way to start the show. In fact, the series feels as if it’s the start of the second season; it dives right in without allowing the audience to catch up.
After Beth’s mother (a hilarious Laura Benanti) passes away, Beth questions her life choices, realizing that she isn’t as happy as she pretends to be with her job. Her longtime boyfriend proposes to her the same day as her mother’s funeral, causing her to break up with him and move back to her hometown, realizing she is unsatisfied with her life.
“Life & Beth” develops more of a plot as the season progresses, though it still feels more like a collection of scenes from someone’s life than a coherent story. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the show is its connection to Schumer’s own life. Many of her experiences inform Beth’s arc, such as when she falls in love with John, a man who works on a vineyard and has similar qualities to Schumer’s husband, who is on the autism spectrum.
The show makes generous use of flashbacks, drawing parallels between Beth’s past and her current endeavors. The flashbacks are, at times, the best parts of the episode, including when Young Beth (Violet Young) deals with the pressure of going through puberty and rejection from a boy in her class. Other times, such as the random clips of Beth as a teenager playing volleyball, they seem out-of-place and distract from the central trajectory.
Although the plot struggles to find its footing, other elements of “Life & Beth” are fortunately signifcantly more successful.
The writing itself is sharp and funny, and Schumer herself directs four of the 10 episodes. Jonathan Furmanski’s cinematography adds to the “slice of life” feel of the show by focusing on seemingly minute details, such as Beth making a bed or eating a granola bar. These details also increase the value of the flashbacks by using cinematography as an entry point. For example, Furmanski jumps between Beth and Young Beth holding lipstick in episode two, eventually revealing that the lipstick reminds Beth of the time her mother helped her wear makeup for the first time.
While the lack of a clear beginning to the story is a bit jarring at first, it also works in the show’s favor. “Life & Beth” is simply a show about everyday life, something any audience member can relate to. The characters drive the story instead of the other way around, and it’s refreshing to see art that doesn’t rely on flashy ideas and melodramatic plots. Even more than that, “Life & Beth’s” premiere perfectly aligned with the middle of Women’s History Month: It proves that the lives and stories of ordinary women are valuable and interesting.
What “Life & Beth” lacks in plot, it certainly makes up for in comedy. Without losing its authenticity, it is witty and hilarious throughout. But, of course, audiences would expect nothing less from Schumer.
Rating: 3/5