DTF ST. LOUIS – Review by Lynn Venhaus
Despite its titillating title, DTF St. Louis is not as cringy as it may seem, but yes, frank sexuality is a major part of the HBO limited series.
Writer-director Steve Conrad’s aim is to explore what repressed desires and temptation lead to in a typical Midwest suburb – the holy trinity of modern crime dramas: betrayal, double-crosses, and secrets. And a healthy dose of awkwardness.
As he probes middle-age malaise in an offbeat, but familiar way, Conrad’s seven-episode arc centers on an unusual murder mystery.
Yet it’s most compelling as a character study of three grown-ups who aren’t fulfilled in their relationships and seek a little spice. What first starts as two guys checking out a ‘hook up’ app for married folks evolves into a love triangle.
It’s 2018 in the fictional Twyla, Mo., an ordinary enclave of backyard barbecues, chain restaurants, Little League ball games and two-car parents navigating kids, schools, work, neighbors and me-time.
The sharp ensemble cast brought their A-game, and after four episodes (made available to press), the best buddies’ bromance between meteorologist Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman) and Floyd Smernich (David Harbour), an ASL interpreter at the same local TV station, is its heart.
Bateman and Harbour are terrific together, and their different personalities mesh in a dynamic pairing. Bateman’s guarded Clark is the polished, poised public figure while Harbour’s kind-hearted Floyd is the lovable hip-hop dancer with the dad body.
As Floyd’s practical coupon-clipping wife Carol, Linda Cardellini is the wild card. Just when you think you have figured her out, she surprises. Cardellini is most effective in matching her words vs. her actions. She’s an accountant at Purina (Nestle Purina PetCare) whose side hustle is being an umpire at kids’ games.
Without spoiling – after all, a death occurs, and as is customary with this genre, more story threads are doled out in flashbacks, as memories mix with new discoveries. Evidence and motives are deconstructed with quirky twists and turns to keep us tuned in weekly (Sundays, March 1 through April 12).
Sturdy character actor Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday of Wednesday play the investigators. He’s the old-fashioned hard-boiled detective for St. Louis County, and she is the town’s sharp special investigations unit.
For local St. Louisans, it’s best not to nitpick the accuracy of the location details, for outside of Purina as Carol’s workplace and the Gateway Arch in the background at the TV station “WGKT” (no such call letters west of the Mississippi, or Ch. 10), that’s it. The show was shot in Atlanta.
Supporting actor Peter Sarsgaard, who lived in St. Louis until age 10 and came back for college, has a connection that way. Sarsgaard gives another richly layered performance as a gay man who talks to the police and explains how the DTF app works.
(Oh, this must be an in-joke – a Kevin Kline Community Pool Center. The Oscar and Tony winner is also a native).
Carol’s troubled teenage son Richard (Arlan Ruf) is worth finding out more about, while so far, Clark’s wife Eimy (Wynn Everett) has barely registered.
Conrad, who wrote the screenplays for the emotionally resonating Wonder and The Pursuit of Happyness, also created the television shows Patriot and Perpetual Grace, LTD
Whether the last three shows are as good as the first four, time will tell. But the strong writing and nuanced performances are worth investing the time. The hook may not be original, but how the story is told sells it. The trio’s quiet desperation is palpable. and that certainly isn’t just a St. Louis ‘thing.’
