“When I read Fleishman Is in Trouble, Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s clever, complex, funny novel about divorce, lack of fulfilment and middle-aged malaise, I remember thinking that it would be a nightmare to adapt for TV,” said Carol Midgley in The Times. “Well now they have,” for Disney+. And while it’s not perfect and too long (eight episodes), they have done a pretty fine job.
Jesse Eisenberg and Claire Danes excel as Toby and Rachel Fleishman, a New York couple who have just been through a divorce, in which their two children were caught “in the spittle-flecked crossfire”. Toby embarks on “a dating-app shagathon”, while Rachel “goes Awol from a posh yoga retreat”. At times you think, “Oh, please, stop your first-world-problem whingeing: you’re rich, you live in Manhattan, you have a house in the Hamptons FFS.” But that’s part of the pleasure, and it all unfolds with “great wit”.
This is a “clever, intricate, mostly persuasive story of marital emasculation, money, status anxiety, midlife burnout and lost potential on the Upper East Side”, said Barbara Ellen in The Observer. It’s pretty watchable, but marred by an “endlessly yapping voiceover” that may lead you to panic: “Is the entire story just going to be read to us?”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
I was really looking forward to this adaptation, said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times, and found it disappointing. “As a casual watch it’s good fun, but it runs out of steam,” and we are forced to spend far too much time with Eisenberg, who “has only one mode: confused”.
Watch on Disney+
-
A Spinal Tap reunion, Thomas Pynchon by way of Paul Thomas Anderson and a harrowing Stephen King adaptation in September moviesthe week recommends This month's new releases include 'Spinal Tap II,' 'One Battle After Another' and 'The Long Walk'
-
'Vampire energy' could be causing your electric bill to riseUnder the Radar Wasted energy could account for up to 10% of home use
-
Sudoku medium: September 10, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Baldwin: A Love Story' and 'The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces'Feature A loving James Baldwin biography and the drug crimes of two special ops veterans
-
Rigatoni with 'no-vodka sauce' recipeThe Week Recommends Comfort food meets a clever alcohol-free twist on a classic
-
6 blooming homes for gardenersFeature Featuring a greenhouse in Illinois and 13 raised garden beds in New Mexico
-
The Roses: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star in black comedy rebootThe Week Recommends 'Acidly enjoyable' remake of the 1980s classic features a warring couple and toxic love
-
Film reviews: The Roses, Splitsville, and TwinlessFeature A happy union devolves into domestic warfare, a couple's open marriage reaps chaos, and an unlikely friendship takes surprising turns
-
Music reviews: Laufey, Deftones, and Earl SweatshirtFeature "A Matter of Time," "Private Music," and "Live Laugh Love"
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogsThe Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
