Wanna see how it goes when I don’t edit or overthink? I figure this is as good a time as any, considering Hal & Harper is debuting at Sundance even though it is not a movie so I can’t even catalogue it in Letterboxd (but I did for a few days, iykyk). Watching all eight episodes in one sitting because we’re on a twelve hour paid time limit.
Please know in advance that I am smitten with Cooper Raiff since he swept me off my feet with Cha Cha Real Smooth. It’s not just his presence, which is undoubtedly charming, albeit convoluted and chaotic. It’s that he’s pushing to tell these stories like it’s in the fabric of his own security blanket. He needs to do what he’s doing. Here we go.
It’s tight. It’s filmed like a movie so I’m not sure why this has been created as an episodic. Perhaps it’s the length. So far the performances are so good. I love the eye behind the camera, too. There’s one moment when they are in the car and just to catch Hal’s smile, the camera is in the back seat over his shoulder and we barely catch his jawline rise. It’s fucking beautiful.
I’m not sure what their father is suffering from – is it clinical depression? Is it schizophrenia? It’s pretty bad. And obviously these kids had to put up with it. No idea if their mother died which caused the dad to do this? Seems like it. But I kind of must have missed that eek. Looks like mom had a very public suicide that I missed. Leaning into manic depressive disorder.
They are adults playing their younger selves. And when Hal (Cooper) says, “We’re gonna be so fucked up…” Oof.
Impressive how they play their younger selves without compromise of adult memories. I like watching how much their dad cares for them even through his misgivings – looking all over for her in the arcade and running the track of the go-kart just to sense the joy of childhood. Even Harper smiled.
I’m excited that this show (Hal and Harper) has two of the people from Sex Lives with College Girls. I just need him to step up his lighting game. The editing is extensive and thick with quick stops and multiple perspectives. I sink into it, though, as it’s pieced together flawlessly. I just would like to see it a little. More. But he’s so good that I have to believe it’s intentional.
I can’t tell if the dad, (Mark Ruffalo – another sensitive favorite), just met with a hooker or a drug dealer. Ok, a hooker. Not sure why though. I guess it’s part of his survival journey. To be touched. To feel something.
Generally everyone is sad. I don’t think anyone wants to heal. So that’s frustrating. Dad’s gotta be manic as I’m watching this basketball scene. The sound is fantastic. The tension like bent metal whirring, waving by your ear.
I can imagine that when times were good for these siblings, they were so good they created a core memories. Like you just kind of force to the front this heavy memory so that you don’t paint this horrific picture of who your father is, because isn’t that embarrassing? I do think some people might think it’s melodramatic. I wish I actually knew why that was ever a bad thing. Sometimes that’s how we are, at least the ones who care enough. And if we aren’t all talking about Lili Reinhart in the next six months, then we aren’t paying attention.
I’m concluding that the lighting is intentional. Seeing the nighttime light on Hal’s lips as he considers. And then him screaming ten minutes later – This is dark. I guess he knows what he is doing.
And then he’s young again and stuck and really freaking out. I’m sharing this like a response rather than having to edit it so that it makes sense to someone who isn’t watching along with me. I mean I think all I’m trying to do is talk to whoever is next to me while I watch this alone. I hope you can hear me.
“Not proud of your dad right now” might be my favorite line because of its timing and Betty Gilpin just keeps showing up for me since I first saw her in Three Women. I’m a fan. And she like, sees exactly what is going on with this family and as frustrated as she is, she knows she can’t replace their mother, and just wants them all to heal. Gush.
Why is it so hard to be who we are some days? It’s all that – and then also what happened back then, and our fear of what is going to happen next. How are we supposed to be the best person we want to be when we don’t like who we are? And either our parents suck or they weren’t there or we don’t know who they even are, but can we keep blaming them for why we don’t like who we are today?
The soundtrack is fantastic. Cooper Raiff knows feelings. And taking us back into the “wonder years” of Hal & Harper tapped into some peak pivotal emotions. There’s pain and abandonment and family and love and joy and anger and codependency and resentment and hope. Yes, there’s still hope.