Review: The Sympathizer, "Love It Or Leave It" | Season 1, Episode 3
I'm seeing double here. Four Downeys!
“Is it necessary?”
Every so often, as a virtual pick-me-up, I enjoy watching Martin Short roast the living hell out of his friend and comic legend Steve Martin. There’s this one line he used during a generally very, very funny speech at the 2013 Governors Awards for the Oscars, an event honoring Martin and a few others, in which he says that whenever he watches his friend in a movie, he thinks “Boy, is Steve acting.” Aside from being one of many brilliant roasts that Short has done of his friend, it’s just a very good line that witheringly comments (at least in my view) on the notion of an actor very nakedly and obviously showing off their talents so that you cannot help but notice that they’re acting.
During the final 15 minutes of “Love It or Leave It,” the third episode of The Sympathizer, I could not help but think of this bit, because…boy, is Robert Downey, Jr. acting here. Now, fair is fair: it’s not like Downey hasn’t been going big with every choice he’s made so far i…