Barry is one of those series they call high concept, that is, based on a simple and strong idea, which immediately sets the story in motion: a former marine, who has become a paid murderer, flies to Los Angeles for an assignment, stumbles upon an acting course by chance, decides to change his life and become an actor. Often the high concept they start well but continue badly, because it is not easy to create variations without distorting it or boring it. And instead Barrynow in its third season (which will go on Sky, but it will probably have to wait until 2023), probably scores the best eight episodes of its entire career.
Filmed entirely by creators Alec Berg and Bill Hader (the latter also plays the lead), the new season begins with a flat, front shot against the backdrop of a barren countryside, which looks like a theatrical backdrop, until the camera begins to move and show its depth.
We are six months away from the events of the second season, and with a brilliant visual metaphor we are introduced to the growing difficulty with which Barry continues to carry on his double life as a mercenary assassin and actor. Rather than guiding the protagonist towards a path of redemption, however, Berg and Hader make his desire for normality and forgiveness monstrous, transforming him for several episodes into a sort of involuntary antagonist. But Barry also works because it allows the supporting characters to grow, so that the stories of Sally (Sarah Goldberg), Gene (Henry Winkler, always spectacular) or the kind gangster NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) are equally exciting and dramatic. Perhaps also thanks to the pandemic forced pause, moreover, there is a superlative attention to detail and narrative depth: you can find revealing or hilarious details in every cameo, gags in the background, cell phone chat.
In the third season, Barry further refines the balance between black comedy, crime and psychological drama: often the most violent scenes are also those that elicit the loudest laughter, but at the same time here we are not at South Parkthe protagonists are never exempted from having to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Barry 3
Alec Berg e Bill Hader
HBO, unpublished in Italy