Platonic (Apple+)

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:22.160
Voyage. Welcome to watch this tonight. I'm your host, Dan Bettimore.

2
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.679
I'm a producer, writer of film
and television and now a podcast producer.

3
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.519
And despite having every streaming service,
I never know what to watch. So

4
00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:33.039
anytime I watch something good, I
talk about it on this show. This

5
00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:36.240
way, you'll never have the same
problem I do. I watched this tonight.

6
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.359
There's always something good to watch.
Let's get started. Today on the

7
00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:44.560
show, we are talking about the
new Apple Plus series Platonic. This is

8
00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:49.880
basically a show about Seth Rogan and
Rose Byrne as Platonic friends, right,

9
00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.880
pretty straightforward what I think is interesting
about it, And I realized that I

10
00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.719
was kind of watching this show so
Seth Rogen it's probably just a little bit

11
00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:03.000
older than me. And he's just
enough older than me that he keeps getting

12
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:08.200
movies or TV shows made where he
dissects a period of life that I'm pretty

13
00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:11.920
close to. When that thing comes
out, So, for example, super

14
00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:15.400
Bad comes out, I was in
college, so I really remembered high school

15
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:19.239
pretty vividly. Knocked up comes out. You know, I was a twenty

16
00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:25.439
something idiot, So that's like Pineapple
Express comes out, you know, again,

17
00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:30.319
twenty something idiot Neighbors comes out,
you know, not long after that,

18
00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:34.239
I end up getting married and becoming
like the characterist that he plays in

19
00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:37.959
The Neighbors, How are you kidding? All? And now platonic, And

20
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.280
it's just so funny that, like
he keeps making these things that I'm really

21
00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:46.040
able to relate to in terms of
stage of life. It's almost like I'm

22
00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:49.760
growing up with him in a weird
way, and I think that his great

23
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:57.680
strength is making stuff that is extremely
relatable and derives its humor from its just

24
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.760
total honesty. The most realistic part
of the first episode of this show is

25
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:08.280
rose Byrne, who has three kids. She goes to a party and leaves

26
00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:14.879
almost immediately and then realizes in horror
that it's ten fifteen at night, which

27
00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:17.520
is a thousand percent something that I
would do, something that my wife and

28
00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:22.400
I would do. It's just different
life phases, right. So rose Burne's

29
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.439
character has kids, seth Rogen's character
does not, and they're is strange platonic

30
00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:30.159
friends that sort of come back together. And you clearly see that like stuff

31
00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:35.240
that is I do think is relatable
of this phase of life. So if

32
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:39.240
I have a friend who wants and
we want to see each other. Seeing

33
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:43.759
me is like you gotta like it's
like booking the time with the president.

34
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.400
Not that I'm important, just that
I have no time because I'm just you

35
00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.400
know, always either dealing with my
kids, are working. And then conversely,

36
00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:54.879
if you don't have kids, I
think you have quite a bit of

37
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:59.400
time to do stuff like that.
So there's there's a you know, you

38
00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.199
see repeated the show where he's trying
to connect with her and be like,

39
00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.400
let's hang out that, how about
this time? How about that time?

40
00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:06.879
She's like, Nope, you can't
do it, can't do it, can't

41
00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:09.479
do it. So all that felt
just super relatable to me. I also

42
00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:13.800
really like in the pilot they established, and again it's not a spoiler,

43
00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:17.759
they estoplished the pilot that Seth Rogan
cheated on his wife essentially out of insecurity,

44
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.439
and I liked that they had the
confidence to indicate to us that pretty

45
00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:24.879
clearly he was the problem, like
we we end up finding out later.

46
00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.560
Again, this is very very minor
spoilers, Like, you know, this

47
00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.240
is not the kind of show that
you can really spoil. You find out

48
00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:35.240
later that he when he was married, he would talk to Rose Byrne,

49
00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.360
like until four o'clock in the morning
on the phone, and it messed up

50
00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.159
his marriage, and so he cheated
on his wife. He had a platonic

51
00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:44.759
female friend that he would talk to
all the time, even like late at

52
00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.240
night, instead of talking to his
wife. You could see where these would

53
00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.280
these things would torpedo a marriage.
So I just liked that. You know,

54
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.159
the more obvious choice would be make
his ex wife the worst person in

55
00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.719
the world, so that you have
sympathy for Seth Rogan, but it's the

56
00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:00.759
opposite. They clearly the show that
he was kind of in the wrong in

57
00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.759
a lot of different ways. So
I like that that was to me,

58
00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.400
that felt like something that was a
more mature storyteller. And you know,

59
00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:13.479
I should say that this is not
The show was created by Francesca del Blanco.

60
00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:20.399
Francesca del Blanco and Nicholas Stoller.
Nicola Stoler obviously very accomplished filmmaker forgetting

61
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.879
Starr Marshall, get him to the
Greek the Five Year Engagement neighbors, and

62
00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.480
Francesco's novelists and screenwriter. And it's
cool that it's a male and a female

63
00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:31.519
creator because obviously the show sort of
pivots around male and female characters, So

64
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:35.000
said Rogan and rose Burn reconnect.
They end up hanging out all night.

65
00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.920
They go to like a Denny's,
and you know they've For Rose Byrne,

66
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.439
this would be like the wildest night
she's had in years. And for Saith,

67
00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:46.560
Rogan's very clear that this is a
completely normal night. And they leave

68
00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.279
Denny's at like whatever one o'clock in
the morning or something, and he's like,

69
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.759
what do you want to do now? When you get Korean barbecue,

70
00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.439
She's like, are you out of
your mind to go home? So again,

71
00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:00.160
I just all that stuff I really
like. I mean, it's cool.

72
00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:02.839
This is a show that like,
if you have kids, if you're

73
00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:04.600
in that phase of your life,
you'll be able to relate to it.

74
00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:06.680
If you don't have kids, but
you're a friends of your kids would be

75
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.920
able to relate to it. If
you've ever had a platonic friend of the

76
00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.000
opposite sex would be able to relate
to it. There's just a lot of

77
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.079
stuff in here that covers a wide
range of the human experience in terms of

78
00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:21.360
relatability. There's a moment at the
end of the pilot where Seth Rogan and

79
00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:28.279
Roseburn have conflict. They yell at
each other, and so then something happens

80
00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:32.600
where she has I would say what
it is, but it's a Chekhov's gun

81
00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:39.920
situation involving sex. It's anyway,
something happens that it's sort of this funny

82
00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:44.800
thing, and she texts him really
late at night about it, and he

83
00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:48.079
texts her back and he's like delighted
that she tried it, and then they

84
00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.920
just start joking around with each other
over text, even though they just had

85
00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:56.720
a big fight. And it was
a really effective evocation of friendship, because

86
00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.600
that's what friendship is. That somebody
who can talk to about anything. You

87
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.839
can are embarrassing stuff with you can, you enjoy their company. You just

88
00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.800
like talking to them. It's fun
to be around them. And that's also

89
00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:10.160
the fun of the show is it's
just fun to hang out with Seth Rogan

90
00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.279
rose Burn. They had this great
chemistry in Neighbors, and you know that

91
00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:18.480
chemistry hasn't gone away. I watched
the first three episodes, which are the

92
00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.879
only episodes available as I'm recording this. I'm just going to touch on some

93
00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:26.120
stuff from the three. Again,
none of this is spoilers, so it's

94
00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:28.720
not going to impede your enjoyment of
them, and I think it'll help you

95
00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:30.439
decide if you want to watch them
or not. There's a moment in episode

96
00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.600
two that was so painfully relatable to
me where Rose Burne and her husband are

97
00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:38.839
getting the kids ready for school and
one of the kids like, I need

98
00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.759
a beret and a baguette for French
class, and she's like, what the

99
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.240
fuck are you talking? Like,
this is the first time hearing about it.

100
00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.199
This is something that happens to my
wife and I like once a week

101
00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.480
where there's something the next day at
school that we didn't know about, and

102
00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.720
they're like, we have to rush
out, and you know, I'm at

103
00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:56.199
Walmart at like you know, ten
thirty at night trying to find like a

104
00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.920
pink shirt or something. There's a
great bit that will be recognizable to any

105
00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.879
parent where Seth Rogan goes to Roseburn's
house, which is a great detail,

106
00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:05.800
and they leave, they don't call
attention to it at all, and he's

107
00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:11.079
drinking from this little apple sauce pouch, which is the exact brand of apple

108
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.079
sauce pouch that I have in my
house at any time. If you break

109
00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:15.680
into my house tonight, you'll find
it in there, and I'm sure every

110
00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:19.120
other parent has. I just thought
there was a great little detail and funny,

111
00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:23.800
and they love when shows have little
details like that. But they don't

112
00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:25.920
make a big thing of it.
There's no clothes up of it, nobody

113
00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:28.600
makes a comment on it. It's
just a funny little visual gag. A

114
00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:30.800
big part of the second episode is
that Roseburne wants to buy this house and

115
00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:34.240
is insisting, insisting that she wants
to buy this house, and it's only

116
00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:39.399
Seth Rogan because he's her friend that
can be totally honest. They're about it

117
00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:44.759
in a way really that you can't
be honest even with like family, Like

118
00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:50.040
there is a thing about your friends
where it's a little bit removed, so

119
00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:55.120
there's not all that like emotional stuff
where you have to be very delicate,

120
00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:59.319
like you know, you can in
some situations probably be more brutally honest friends

121
00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:03.480
that of you know, the your
immediate loved one. So I just thought

122
00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:07.120
that that was again they do a
really good job of pointing out the things

123
00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:11.680
that are unique to platonic friends.
They also do a good job of pointing

124
00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.920
out again differences and where you are
in life. So in episode three,

125
00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:18.439
Seth Rogan doesn't want to sell out. He has an opportunity, a business

126
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.600
opportunity. He's a part owner of
a bar, and a business opportunity comes

127
00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:24.920
along and he thinks that if they
do it, it's selling out and he

128
00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:30.879
won't be cool anymore, which is
totally idiotic. And again, once you,

129
00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:35.440
once you have the responsibility of keeping
kids alive, you will sell out

130
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.399
immediately. I will sell out tonight
if I get an offer from McDonald's the

131
00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:45.480
show would be watch McDonald's tonight,
featuring only films with hamburgers. I'll do

132
00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.840
it immediately. So you know,
yeah, it's just one of the thingson

133
00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:50.279
where you're younger you think about stuff
like that. You get older, like

134
00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.759
that doesn't matter. Just if you
can get some money, go ahead and

135
00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.159
get that money. Also in episode
three, there's a quick shot of this

136
00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:01.759
guy who's like the owner of this
other business that Seth Rogan has this opportunity

137
00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:05.759
with, and it's the husband of
the neighbor from Shrinking, and it really

138
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:13.159
felt like we're in the Marvel cinematic
universe of Apple shows where Apple has just

139
00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:18.120
I would love to know there must
have been something they found in their research

140
00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.600
or something about audiences where they're like, you know, we're just going to

141
00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.679
make a bunch of shows that are
just a sense of just about real people

142
00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.480
in like real situations and maybe a
little bit heightened in the concept in some

143
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:33.799
way. But you know, comfortable, fun easily to watch shows that make

144
00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.679
you feel good. And I think
that's this show. I think that's shrinking

145
00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:41.919
in a slightly different way the Big
Door Prize also, so this very comfortably

146
00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:46.159
fits into the Apple brand. Now, I said a lot of nice stuff

147
00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:48.679
about the show. I am sorry
to say that I was like all in

148
00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:52.159
and then there was a moment at
the end of the third episode, and

149
00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.559
I won't say what happens, but
it was a moment where they make a

150
00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:01.480
big choice and the show had so
completely sold on it being real. I'd

151
00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.360
so invested in it as real that
when this moment happened, I I literally

152
00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:09.399
had to pause the show cover my
face as a blanket because I was so

153
00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:13.879
uncomfortable. And I immediately thought like, this is a disaster, Like this

154
00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:18.799
is gonna this will you might get
divorced over this. This is like a

155
00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:24.000
really big deal that this happened.
And they play it off like it's not

156
00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.120
a big deal, which is not
true. It's not real. It's not

157
00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.600
reality what happens at the end of
the third episode, and I really hope

158
00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:35.919
that they don't just toss it off
and we go an episode four like nothing

159
00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.600
happened, you know. I hope
that there are consequences from it. It

160
00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:43.679
was the first time in three episodes
that it felt a little strained, and

161
00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:46.080
it felt a little like, oh, we're just going for this gag,

162
00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:50.039
but then we're not going to actually
address the realistic ramifications of it. So

163
00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:54.360
I hope that that's not what happens. I do feel like that was like

164
00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.960
the one moment. It's a shame
that they put it at the end of

165
00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:01.159
the last episode they made available upon
the release of the show, so it

166
00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:03.919
sort of looks a bad taste of
my mouth. Again, I'm not spoiling

167
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.200
it, but if you've watched Platonic, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about,

168
00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.360
if you've seen the third episode,
And I would really love to know

169
00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.960
if you felt the same way,
or if you thought it was funny or

170
00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:15.960
what. But I was like,
the one thing that just kind of threw

171
00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.799
me a bit a bar from that, though, this is a delight.

172
00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.720
It's so great to see him,
you know, and her together again.

173
00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.879
And you know, there was always
this criticism of the Jed Apatow movies that

174
00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.200
they were too long, right,
they were sort of these rambling kind of

175
00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:31.639
style, but it was it made
you put you into a world. I

176
00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:35.759
mean, I didn't mind the length, but in television it does feel like,

177
00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.919
actually, in some ways a better
fit for this sort of material,

178
00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:45.000
where it can be long, but
it's separated by episodes and you're just exploring

179
00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:46.759
these characters. And I would say, as far as the characters, that's

180
00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.879
the other thing is the husband of
Rose Burne so far is the weak link

181
00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.639
in terms of not feeling one hundred
percent like a real person because he's too

182
00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.480
nice, he's too perfect in his
case. I'm really pretty confid they're going

183
00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.600
to subvert that at some point.
We're gonna find out something about him that

184
00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.039
muddies him up and all that kind
of stuff. So I'm interested to see

185
00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.919
if that happens as well. Overall, definitely easy to recommend, very enjoyable

186
00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:16.120
show. Slight a little you know, cracks in the armor, I think

187
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.600
here and there, but you know, definitely overall, I really enjoyed it,

188
00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:22.159
and I think you will too.
That is the show for today.

189
00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.559
Before I go, I want to
thank everybody who sent me really positive feedback

190
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.360
on the Richard Wank episode. I
think I had probably like six different people

191
00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.519
who send me a message or something
and said they really enjoyed it, and

192
00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.480
I did too, So I'm glad
you enjoyed it. I'm really, you

193
00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.080
know, just glad I kept that
on the record. I have a lot

194
00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:43.279
of respect for Richard and when he's
accomplished in his career, so that's pretty

195
00:12:43.320 --> 00:13:00.600
cool. That's it for now until
next time. Bye bye four