Rating: 
Summary: "A Perfect Life"
Review: When I heard great things about this series from friends, I simply had to check it out. Unfortunately for me, I don't have cable. However, when this DVD set came out I was lucky enough to find it for rent at a local video store and thus I rented and watched all five discs. I'm glad I did! This is a great series that shouldn't be missed.The plot centers on Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and his partner in crime Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon). They are both plastic surgeons who share their medical practice. Together they help people to hide on the outside what they can't face on the inside. Sean McNamara has a wife (Joely Richardson) and two children, and seems to be relatively content with his life. That is, if you ignore the fact that he doesn't talk to his wife and kids as much as he should because of his work hours. Furthermore, his wife feels resentment towards him because she raised the kids alone and helped support him through medical school while ignoring her own dreams. Christian Troy is the antithesis of Sean in many ways. He is a commitment-phobic sex addict who tries to get out and enjoy what life has to offer. The fact that he makes a ton of money and can wave that notion in women's faces certainly aids him in his quest. Undoubtedly, he has made several enemies along the way. The relationship between these two is complex. They are more than mere business partners. They are best friends and confidants, and together they get themselves mixed up in strange medley of unsettling incidences that will test their friendship and ultimately bring them closer than ever before. Throughout the course of this first season, they will be unwillingly involved in trafficking drugs across the border, disguising child molesters, and even getting rid of a dead body. In addition to the roller coaster ride of events they experience together, they each have their own separate personal ordeals that must be dealt with. Dr. McNamara's crumbling marriage is a constant reminder of his failures, and Dr. Troy's risqué love life will come back to haunt him. The ultimate theme for the series is that no matter how beautiful we look on the outside, there can still be hideousness on the inside. We are a society of grit and grime, and no amount of money and technology will change that. Nip/Tuck portrays that harsh reality in a brutal, in-your-face manner that is both intriguing and addicting. The symbolism seen in the opening of each episode is a great way to emphasize this point. I must admit that I wasn't all that interested in this series after the first couple of episodes. They seemed to plunge the viewer right into the plot without spending much time developing the characters. I wanted to know who these people were and why they would do some of the things they were doing. However, I'm glad I stuck with it and continued to watch. With each new episode, small tidbits of each character's personality are revealed. These are complex characters that can't be explained in a few episodes. The writing for each episode is phenomenal, with each one being better than its predecessor. I definitely suggest this series to fans of good television. I should note that the plastic surgery scenes tend to be quite graphic and are definitely not suitable for everyone, but don't let that keep you from checking this out. I can't wait for the second season to come out on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Somebody get me a glass of water!
Review: Whew, is it ever steamy in here! nip/tuck is FANTASTIC. I don't need a bunch of long paragraphs or my own version of the synopsis to tell you this. It's just friggin fantastic.
I missed the entire first season. My brother kept bugging me to watch it. I watched it.... and then I was like a rabid animal "Tivo"ing every episode I could find in my programming guide. I was so hooked - after ONE episode of season 2 - that I immediately bought season one on DVD.
WOW WOW WOW. On the surface the show seems seedy and overtly sexual. Look closer and there is such a tangled web of love and loss and need that you can't stop watching. OK, I said I wasn't gonna get going on descriptive stuff. I'll just say that it's amazing and leave it at that.
Did I mention I love this show?
Rating:
Summary: Searingly hot-sexy, provocative, involving.
Review: Wow did I love this series! I missed it during the original broadcast, but based on what people have told me, I gambled on this box set. I feel like I hit the jackpot. It's definitely not for everyone though. No sirree. First of all, if you're squeamish, the brilliantly reproduced surgeries can be a bit nauseating. (I'm a surgeon, and I loved 'em. My wife, an ex-nurse, had to close her eyes...)
Second, if you are at all uncomfortable with the topic of sex, stay away. This series will plant you into situations you have not even imagined. Bouncing between hilarity and discomfort, sex is definitely a theme throughout the 13 shows. Third, if you appreciate good acting, it does not get any better than this. Seriously. This is "Sopranos" good; "NYPD Blue" good. The two lead performances are pitch-perfect, both deeply flawed and often morally reprehensible individuals who at the end of the day, you can't help but root for. The "supporting" players are a heck lot more than that, and provide tons of drama, amusement and eye candy.
There is beauty and ugliness everywhere, from an absolutely gorgeous female figure to a purely evil drug dealing psychopath. That's just in one episode. Fourth, the screenwriting is bling-bling eye-popping, smart as all hell and consistently surprising. The thirteen episodes link nicely together, the first ones dovetailing back into the last ones. I was constantly taken aback at the twists, the lines, the situations they came up with. Let's just say that I learned in the very first episode that crocodiles prefer ham to human flesh. And that fact is actually important to the story... I haven't even had a chance to go through what appears to be fairly extensive supplements and deleted scenes. I HAD to write in...I will recommend this to ANYONE, anyone over 18 I should say, who likes good television and may like to be pleasantly shocked from time to time. With great restraint I have withheld many (if not all) plot points, because the exhilarating thrill of discovering them on your own is something you'll only feel once. Without spoiling too much, the show centers on the Miami plastic surgery practice of McNamara/Troy.
Sean McNamara is a questionably happily married man, with one teenage son, and one grade schooler daughter.
Julia, the wife, is plagued by doubts surrounding her love for her husband, the urge to go back to medical school and sexual attractions/distractions galore.
One of whom might be Christian Troy, Sean's best friend and partner, and one of the most gleefully decadent characters in TV history. I mean "decadent" in a good way. Sort of.
His travails include, but in no way are limited to, a continuing parade of sexual partners, a number of hysterical surgical propositions, problems involving his boat, his cars, his apartment and the plastic surgery competition across town.
Other important characters include the melting hot staff psychologist and the defiant, embittered, proudly lesbian anesthesiologist. The cast has such chemistry that they not only react to one another, they generate this bubbly heat together...it's fun to watch them prod each other to new heights. The one thing that struck me the most about these shows is the amount of genuine heart that stands at the center of each episode. There is a large amount of provocative, politically incorrect but unassailable truth here...nothing you'd like to admit, but stuff you instantly recognize. As you get to know these characters, establshing empathy fir them is easy. It's darn near irresistible. I was hooked from the first five minutes. I could write more, but I need to go check out the extras, AND the four NEW episodes I have on tape. I have just GOT to get my Tivo hooked up...
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