Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
thursday-14
Quite a few people, while they are highly amused by this series, seem to assume that there is a degree of "poetic license" involved, and that the episodes of bureaucratic ineptitude have been "enhanced for dramatic effect."Having worked for a very large Australian retail chain who have recently fallen on difficult times, (you know who they are :-) I can assure them that the level of HR dingbat-ery, IT ineptitude and over-the-top Political Correctness used as a ploy to mask the incompetence of lower- echelon staff, are actually very close to the mark.I would love to be on their writing team; I could probably provide them with enough fresh material to keep them going for years!
JustGotToSayIt
For some reason this show is called Dreamland on Netflix. Very funny comedy. Few shows these days can elicit a chuckle or a smile much less laughing out loud but this one made me laugh. For people who never worked in a corporate environment may think these comedic situations outlandish, but I can tell you they are much more common than one would think. All the bureaucracies, corruption, incompetence, frustrations, wastefulness of a corporation or any large organization are brought to the screen in a funny way and they managed it without making it slapstick. The pacing is well done, and the characters are relatable.Very well done and I highly recommend it.
DEfencED_16164
I work in a very similar environment, and this show is a pitch perfect satire of my job. It makes me feel uncomfortable in the way a fantastic satire should. The writing is spot on, and the performances, especially from Rob Sitch, Kitty Flanagan, Celia Pacquola, and Dave Lawson bring it to life in such an incredible way. It truly realizes the absurdities of government life in a Westminster-style government in a way many shows don't grasp and truly demonstrates in its best moments the conflict between good policy and political realities without leaning on any one character too heavily to point out the absurdities. That being said, I don't know how much all of it would resonate with someone outside of the climate of government. Some of the episodes are pretty universal - there's a season 2 episode with an HR rep that probably would resonate with most office environments, but I fear that some of the more clever moments may be lost on some viewers.
Rohan Kirkpatrick
There's been a glut of the mockumentary civil service comedy of errors shows in the past few years. We have the venerable Yes, Minister, which serves as one of the inspirations for the genre, having been recently repopularised by the likes of Veep and the Thick of It.Utopia seems to be an Australian emulation of these kind of political machinations by veteran Australian comedian Rob Sitch; of Frontline fame.Whilst I appreciate an attempt at this kind of comedy in Australia, the truth is, we don't really have the writing talent to execute this concept well. This show is very "first season" - raw, characters are underdeveloped, dialogue is often cliché & the writing predictable. The players aren't very believable; with players either swinging between down to earth to fault, or completely insubstantial. The attempts to mock government waste and bureaucracy fails because it seems that the writers can't actually create a convincing bureaucracy or Catch 22. It seems instead that writers rely on characters simply flip flopping between two outcomes.The secretaries are so incredibly daft that it often destroys willing suspension of disbelief. The manic pixie dream girl is especially deserving for ridicule for bad lines, poor acting and a terrible stereotype Sometimes it seems this show was written by American writers using Australian actors.One of the major flaws with the show is it often makes pretenses to humour that aren't there. It is simply put at times, unfunny and unoriginal Other times plots are so cookie cutter that the show becomes less cringe humour, and more cringeworthy. It has a that very "drama undergraduate" vibbe that all ABC and many other Australian productions seem to have. It's important for writers and dire tors to remember that just because something amuses the players on set, doesn't mean it will amuse the audience; as most of the shows jokes fall flat.The show isn't a complete write off, it occasionally draws a wry laugh, and watching Sitch and Flanagan can be entertaining.The premise isn't necessarily that bad, but it needs to take more cues from The Thick of It, and far, far less from the US remake of the Office, which is far closer to what this show represents in reality if not ambition.
