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Gravity is a plodding, self-important take on a serious subject that’s neither irreverent enough to be truly funny nor insightful enough to be taken seriously. Its humor is strained, its characters are annoying, and its plotting is scattered.
Pros
- Star Krysten Ritter gets a deserved spotlight
- Tackles a tough, unconventional subject
Cons
- Ponderous, self-important tone that quickly grows tiresome
- Unpleasant, annoying characters
- Humor that is somehow both tasteless and toothless
Description
- First four episodes air April 23, April 30, May 7, May 14, 2010, at 10:30 p.m. EST on Starz
- Stars Krysten Ritter, Ivan Sergei, Eric Schaeffer, Ving Rhames, Robyn Cohen, Seth Numrich, Rachel Hunter, James Martinez
- Created by Eric Schaeffer and Jill Franklyn
Guide Review - 'Gravity' Premiere Episodes
Gravity co-creator, co-star, co-writer and director Eric Schaeffer was once designated by the gossip blog Gawker as the worst person in the world, and his insufferable smugness suffuses his latest TV-series effort. Schaeffer last infested the airwaves in 2005 with the short-lived FX series Starved, which followed the lives of the members of an eating-disorders support group. Schaeffer clearly likes his support groups, because Gravity is also focused on people in recovery: Its main characters are all members of a support group for survivors of suicide attempts, which gives Schaeffer plenty of chances to indulge in his penchant for desperate shock-value humor, and to create characters who spend much of their time wallowing in self-pity.
At least those characters have a reason to be miserable and narcissistic. Schaeffer also inserts himself as a character who seems consistently out of place, a police detective named Christian Miller who becomes obsessed with main character Lily Champagne (Krysten Ritter) after he meets her in the hospital following her botched suicide attempt (via pills). Miller hangs around the periphery of the show, stalking Lily and acting creepy, and as the episodes progress, his own problems (gambling debts, sexual deviance) are given increased prominence. Miller seems like he belongs in a separate show altogether, and combining his scenes with the scenes of the group members interacting makes for an awkward and disjointed mix.
Still, Schaeffer is lucky to have assembled a strong cast that makes his brand of ponderous nonsense and needless vulgarity go down easier. Ritter is a charismatic performer who’s been the bright spot of many a dismal romantic comedy (She’s Out of My League, Confessions of a Shopaholic, What Happens in Vegas), and had a memorable arc on Veronica Mars. Lily is gloomy and self-centered, but Ritter manages to bring a spark of life to the tortured moments that the character has to deal with as she is pursued by and obsesses over three different moody guys. Likewise, recognizable faces Ving Rhames and Rachel Hunter liven up what are otherwise rote supporting characters.
Gravity isn’t the world’s worst show, but it does highlight Schaeffer’s limitations as a creator, and his strain to be taken seriously kills most of the entertainment value. If you’re going to find the humor in dark and tragic subject matter, you have to actually find that humor before skipping right to the misery.
Disclosure: A review screener was provided by the network. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
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