Genre: TV Series
Grade: B+/B
Notable People: Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr., Fred Nguyen Kahn, Created by: Jez Scharf
Title: The Sympathizer
Grade: an historical black comedy drama miniseries based on the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguye. The series is based on the story of the Captain, a North Vietnam spy in the South Vietnam army. He is forced to flee to the United States with his general near the end of the Vietnam War. While living within a community of South Vietnamese refugees, he continues to secretly spy on the community and report back to the Viet Cong, struggling between his original loyalties and his new life. I really liked the book, but the series is pretty hard to follow and bizarre, to say the least. Black comedy does not quite fully describe this. The era described, and the portrayal of Vietnamese refugees to America, it interesting and its alternating sunny 70s LA and the jungles of Vietnam is compelling. The acting is good. Downy is thoroughly out of control, playing four distinctly different, and equally crazy- person roles.