The premise is pretty simple: Based on a podcast by Wondery and Bloomberg Media, this limited series tells the story of Martin “Marty” Markowitz, a nerdy, underconfident heir to a middling fabric business who winds up consulting a therapist recommended by his sister’s rabbi: psychiatrist Dr.
Ike overbills him, serves as a consultant at the fabric business and essentially takes over Marty’s summer home in the Hamptons, throwing parties where the therapist poses as the homeowner.
Ferrell plays Marty as a conflict-averse geek with a New York accent that often comes across as a toned-down Woody Allen impression.
Rudd embodies the predatory therapist as a glad-handing status seeker eager for a shortcut to the trappings of a successful life.
Ike talks Marty into spending over $100,000 to create a charitable foundation, complete with a checkbook either one of them can use.
Ike convinces him to re-enact his bar mitzvah as an adult, completing the rituals he didn’t have the confidence to finish when he was 13 years old.
Ike turns Marty’s ceremony into an event filled with his own acquaintances, invading a patient’s private affairs in a way that was self-serving and highly unethical.
But Ferrell, especially, stands out as an actor who looks nothing like the real man he is playing, offering a take on the character that doesn’t feel particularly transformative.