![]() ![]() The invitation and challenge offered by "Dispatches From Elsewhere" is implied in two titles referenced directly and indirectly throughout the four episodes made available for review. On the other hand, to quote the best character in the show: "Remember fun?" Whereas viewers who don't know of Segel as the depressed, broken-hearted schlub from 2008 "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or 2011's "The Muppet Movie," a product of his rampant adoration for all things Jim Henson, recognize him as Marshall Eriksen from the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." Those who believe indulging in straight-on whimsical presentations is something to be earned might not have much patience for "Dispatches From Elsewhere." Otherwise flights of fancy are a signature move for established filmmakers such as Wes Anderson and Michel Gondry or TV producers like Bryan Fuller, who gave us "Pushing Daisies," "Wonderfalls," and "American Gods." Through their work they're earned enough cachet for people who have seen a lot of TV and film and enjoy talking all the TV and film they've seen to respect their amusing, provocative visual application of magical realism Fuller also helped his case by recruiting bright and potent personalities such as Kristin Chenoweth and Lee Pace to breathe life into his visions. Whimsy is OK when there's something intellectual lurking beneath it, as with "The Good Place" or "Russian Doll." That's completely understandable reaction in our pessimistic, cynical era, where having seen it all is a true possibility. ![]() Nevertheless, it takes a desire for a specific mood that welcomes intentional oddity and scavenger hunts, and gently smiles at the idea of a tale visually and narratively structured to resemble a thoughtfully curated curiosity shop – a place that spells the word "shop" with an extra p and an e.Īnd frankly, a lot of people are over that crap. ![]() Such details are everything in "Dispatches From Elsewhere," and there are details everywhere to take in with a laser focus or a soft gaze. Her body is in City of Brotherly Love, but her imagination transports her to the City of Lights – and the audiences meets her in both places. Then she removes her ear buds, and garish, joyful American pop music floods the scene, confirming her location. Only an obscured American flag in the background behind her lets us know that she's still in Philadelphia, where the show is set. In one scene, a character walks down a side street lit and styled to resemble Paris, an assumption strengthened by the French music lilting in the background. Much of the time it accomplishes this via cinematic technique and an editing that places the viewer inside the head of its protagonists while urging us to observe everything about them. Frame by frame, "Dispatches From Elsewhere" steeps the audience in a sense of departing from reality despite being anchored to it. One wonders whether series creator and star Jason Segel will be afforded that latitude with this story so thoroughly devoted to finding magic in the mundane, even in places otherwise overlooked for being nondescript or even homely. We don't often think about the double standards when it comes to that term – only certain creators are allowed to get away with it or, indeed are celebrated for it. Falling in like with "Dispatches From Elsewhere" requires a hunger many people no longer countenance, either owing to an intolerance for the type of sideshow aesthetics permeating each frame or an allergy to that nebulous feeling characterized, often dismissively, as whimsical. ![]()
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