The Spoils of Babylon Review
The trailer for The Spoils of Babylon, as posted above, gives the audience a sense of an epic series with so many twists and turns, one's neck would hurt from going back and forth, however, IFC's original mini-series created by Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele fools the viewer once they dive into the absurdity of the series.
The Spoils of Babylon can be best described as a parody of the major 1970's and 80's family dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty. The plot revolves around Jonas Morehouse (Tim Robbins), his daughter Cynthia (Kristen Wiig), and the drifter-turned-son/brother, Devon Morehouse (Tobey Maguire) in their search for oil in Texas in the early 20th century and their evolution as a family and business. The story was written by fictitious best-selling author, Eric Jonrosh (Will Ferrell) and each episode begins and ends with a monologue delivered by the burly, big bearded man himself.
The story, told by a dying Devon Morehouse in his later years in a recording studio, is full of deceit, family trials and tribulations, love, sex, drugs, war, murder and almost everything else you can think of in the outlandish series.
An underlying storyline in the first two episodes of the six episode mini-series is Cynthia and Devon's bordering incestuous relationship. The two share a kiss when they were very young and had developed feelings for one another all throughout their lives. From decade to decade, their love grows, but business pulls them apart. It has a rubberband effect throughout the series and is entertaining to say the least. The two characters know how wrong their feelings are for one another, however, their love transcends all moral and ethical boundaries.
"I kicked heroin, but I can't kick you," Devon says to Cynthia in a later episode and isn't that the perfect summation of how over the top this show can be? Not convinced? Watch the clip below in regards to Devon's daughter, Marianne's death in a later episode.
The Spoils of Babylon can be best described as a parody of the major 1970's and 80's family dramas such as Dallas and Dynasty. The plot revolves around Jonas Morehouse (Tim Robbins), his daughter Cynthia (Kristen Wiig), and the drifter-turned-son/brother, Devon Morehouse (Tobey Maguire) in their search for oil in Texas in the early 20th century and their evolution as a family and business. The story was written by fictitious best-selling author, Eric Jonrosh (Will Ferrell) and each episode begins and ends with a monologue delivered by the burly, big bearded man himself.
The story, told by a dying Devon Morehouse in his later years in a recording studio, is full of deceit, family trials and tribulations, love, sex, drugs, war, murder and almost everything else you can think of in the outlandish series.
An underlying storyline in the first two episodes of the six episode mini-series is Cynthia and Devon's bordering incestuous relationship. The two share a kiss when they were very young and had developed feelings for one another all throughout their lives. From decade to decade, their love grows, but business pulls them apart. It has a rubberband effect throughout the series and is entertaining to say the least. The two characters know how wrong their feelings are for one another, however, their love transcends all moral and ethical boundaries.
"I kicked heroin, but I can't kick you," Devon says to Cynthia in a later episode and isn't that the perfect summation of how over the top this show can be? Not convinced? Watch the clip below in regards to Devon's daughter, Marianne's death in a later episode.
One other note regarding this show is the completely over-the-top, absurd setting shots that are presented. There are toy cars and buildings, cars riding on a rail to simulate someone driving, and a ridiculous green screen for most of the settings, however, they all work perfectly for what The Spoils of Babylon is trying to accomplish.
The acting in this show is fantastic, despite its intended nature of being an over-the-top parody. Maguire and Wiig have a strong chemistry as lovers/siblings and Haley Joel Osment's role as Cynthia's son, Winston, is scene stealing during the show. Jessica Alba, who plays one of Devon's other love interests, Dixie Melonworth, is the exception to the first line of this paragraph. Her acting, like most of her projects, is flat and stale and when she meets Winston later on in the show, lets just say the pain of watching her act slowly sinks away.
If you take this show for what it is worth, which is a comical parody taking as many jabs at past television and movie classics as possible, it is absolutely brilliant. The humor is dry and witty when it needs to be, yet can be as outlandish and force-fed as can be. The story, while meant to be farcical, does have an intrigue to it and the Morehouse clan is something special to behold, especially as time passes and lines are blurred.
If you are expecting a serious drama or a phenomenally written, directed, and edited mini-masterpiece, you will be surely disappointed. The Spoils of Babylon was created to entertain people, not engage them in a long-term run and they absolutely succeeded in their mission, in this fan's opinion.
The whole saga can be viewed on Netflix's Instant Stream and is highly recommended to anyone who is looking for a fun two and a half hours of television.
My rating: 7.5/10
The acting in this show is fantastic, despite its intended nature of being an over-the-top parody. Maguire and Wiig have a strong chemistry as lovers/siblings and Haley Joel Osment's role as Cynthia's son, Winston, is scene stealing during the show. Jessica Alba, who plays one of Devon's other love interests, Dixie Melonworth, is the exception to the first line of this paragraph. Her acting, like most of her projects, is flat and stale and when she meets Winston later on in the show, lets just say the pain of watching her act slowly sinks away.
If you take this show for what it is worth, which is a comical parody taking as many jabs at past television and movie classics as possible, it is absolutely brilliant. The humor is dry and witty when it needs to be, yet can be as outlandish and force-fed as can be. The story, while meant to be farcical, does have an intrigue to it and the Morehouse clan is something special to behold, especially as time passes and lines are blurred.
If you are expecting a serious drama or a phenomenally written, directed, and edited mini-masterpiece, you will be surely disappointed. The Spoils of Babylon was created to entertain people, not engage them in a long-term run and they absolutely succeeded in their mission, in this fan's opinion.
The whole saga can be viewed on Netflix's Instant Stream and is highly recommended to anyone who is looking for a fun two and a half hours of television.
My rating: 7.5/10
