Big Mistakes Review: Directionless siblings Nicky and Morgan find themselves being blackmailed by an organised crime unit after they steal a cheap necklace for their dying grandmother.
The film tries to find humour in a dysfunctional family’s situation, going from bad to worse, but, in the end, struggles to maintain tone and narrative coherence.
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Big Mistakes Netflix Cast
Dan Levy, Taylor Ortega, Laurie Metcalf, Abby Quinn, Boran Kuzum, Jack Innanen, Elizabeth Perkins, Mark Ivanir, Ilia Volok, Jacob Gutierrez, Joe Barbara, Darren Goldstein
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Big Mistakes Series Creators
Dan Levy, Rachel Sennott
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Big Mistakes Showrunner
Dan Levy
The crime comedy Netflix series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes.
Big Mistakes Review
Themes and General Discussion
In a rather curious turn, Big Mistakes, the very anticipated follow-up by Dan Levy after Schitt’s Creek, makes absolutely no sense for the most part and is extremely chaotic and brash, so much so that it’s hard to root for or follow anyone for a good chunk of the runtime. The series follows two siblings and their dysfunctional family who constantly scream at one another for anything and everything. It starts during their grandmother’s funeral and just goes haywire from there, following them desperately trying to get back a necklace for a gangster that now rests on their dead, buried grandmother’s neck.
This is a dark comedy series that struggles to balance its tonal ambitions with telling a cohesive story. The dysfunctional family angle brings a ton of screaming with it, which is mostly impossible to understand because everyone screams together. This can be entertaining sometimes, but it can’t come out of the screaming matches throughout the runtime. At a point, it gets on your nerves because it’s hard to understand the dialogue even with the subtitles, and so you just hope in agonising pain that these people grow up and take turns to speak; you know, like adults.
Either way, Big Mistakes is not a show that you get to peel the surface to find an interesting interior. It’s lighthearted stupidity that depends on being random enough to be funny. Which, it is… if you get to hear the dialogues. However, that’s all that there is to it. It’s a paper-thin show about the worst of families coming together in times of need, and a thriller element that hardly makes sense. You need to suspend your disbelief in a shocking element and try to keep your nerves calm. But, as I said, it works under certain circumstances.
Plot Discussion & Comparison
The series, although it tries to, struggles to differentiate itself from others in the genre. The plot is repetitive and obvious, something we have seen a few times before. Sure, it might come out with a few more seasons and make the worldbuilding whole, but right now, these characters and situations don’t make sense. The characters, especially, hardly have any depth or charm. Everyone is just so annoying. I mean, with Schitt’s Creek, at least Moira, David, and Alexis had a reason to be insufferable. In this Netflix series, that information is missing.
The transition from dark comedy to emotional drama and back feels incomplete, and the series struggles to juggle the two. The series struggles to come up with the correct tone and establish a clear identity. It’s neither disturbingly funny nor does it totally commit to the crime aspects of itself, leaving viewers to be left in the middle.
Performances
However, annoyance aside, the series has great actors who do a lot for their characters, given what little there is to do. It’s the actors who do most of the heavy-lifting and add authenticity and nuance when things go a bit too haywire. You see the vulnerability underneath during the quieter moments, and that’s when you relate to the characters.
I think Taylor Ortega and Laurie Metcalf are wasted here, but what little vulnerability we did find, we found it with them. I was also oddly fascinated with Boran Kuzum’s Yusuf, but he suddenly disappeared, and then when he came back, he left the punch somewhere on the way.
What Works vs What Doesn’t?
What works for this series is that it’s a light-hearted, enjoyable show that does a great job of taking you on a journey. It’s a chaotic journey, true, but the quieter moments when people stand up for each other and think about one another that will get your heart racing.
On the other hand, what doesn’t work are the tonal imbalances, the explosive fights that will stop viewers from understanding the dialogues and an inconsistent and unbelievable storyline that is very random.
Final Thoughts
Listen, I can see something entertaining here, regardless of the annoyance that one might feel throughout the runtime. However, that’s just not here, right now. Maybe if we get a few more seasons or something. But we know so little about anyone here that it doesn’t make sense, including the rather shocking revelation in the end that comes out of nowhere and leaves you with more questions than answers.
What are your thoughts on Big Mistakes on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!
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