Fleishman Is in Trouble review roundup: What critics are saying about the satirical divorce drama
Miniseries is an adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel of the same name
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Your support makes all the difference.American drama miniseries Fleishman Is in Trouble is finally making its way across the pond, bringing along with it a slew of positive critical reviews.
Adapted from Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel of the same name, the limited series stars Jesse Eisenberg as newly divorced dad Dr Toby Fleishman.
Just as he decides to enter the world of app-based dating, his ex-wife Rachel (Claire Danes) disappears, leaving him with their two young children, Hannah (Meara Mahoney-Gross) and Solly (Maxim Swinton).
While juggling parenting, friend reunions and work, Fleishman finally comes to realise he’ll have to confront his marriage’s failings to discover what happened to Rachel.
Following its November US release, Fleishman Is in Trouble was met with praise from critics and fans alike, which you can find a roundup of below.
“Fleishman Is In Trouble is a sharp, fierce, and funny adaptation of a truly great novel. And, for what it’s worth, it does what a throwback should: It reminds us of why we keep returning to the same stories, even when they stop making sense,” Annie Berke said in her review for AV Club.
In The Guardian’s four-star review of the series, Adrian Horton wrote: “Mundane, yet still potent. A frenetic Whac-A-Mole of everyday stressors propels Fleishman Is in Trouble.”
Describing it as “an anxious series”, she branded it a “smart adaptation” of Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel. Horton further lauded Danes’s performance as the “reward of the series”.
“Watching Fleishman Is in Trouble, you may occasionally resent its insinuation that people need to be tricked into finding women’s experiences compelling. But a lot, again, depends on perspective,” The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert argued.
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“The show, because it has to hew strictly to an eight-episode format and the conventions of TV, sometimes feels like it’s indulging old patterns more than upending them. But its cast is so compelling, and its truths so sharp when they stick you, that it doesn’t really matter. There’s enough packed into it that you’re bound to find something that resonates.”
Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter said: “You shouldn’t come away from Fleishman Is in Trouble with a singular assessment of the perpetrator or victim, a clear image of who’s to blame. This is a series about understanding instead of indicting in a way that’s poignant and probing at once.”
Fleishman Is in Trouble is available to stream now on Hulu in the US and will be released on Disney+ on 22 February in the UK.
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