“A desperate father, alongside a tenacious cop, battles his own demons on the streets of 1980s New York as he searches for his missing nine-year-old son.”–Netflix
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vincent Anderson, an alcoholic puppeteer, whose marriage is failing. His TV program Good Day Sunshine–think Sesame Street–is suffering from lower ratings. Then, his 9-year-old son, Edgar (Evan Howe), disappears–a parent’s worst nightmare!
Set in the 1980s and based on an actual case, the series of six episodes asks the audience to follow Cumberbatch and a hallucinatory big blue puppet named Eric as they travel the subway system searching for Edgar. I found the hallucinatory big blue puppet quirky and weird–not in a Good Way.
There’s also a subplot dealing with Mikey Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) of the NYPD’s Missing Persons Unit. I also liked the performance of the long-suffering wife and mother (Gaby Hoffmann). [SLIGHT SPOILER!]: I fault the writers of Eric who have the mother engage in sex with an old boyfriend in the middle of the frantic search for her son. I found that completely unbelievable. [END SPOILER]
Watching Cumberbatch traveling with an illusory big blue puppet was hard to watch for six episodes. You mileage may differ. I also didn’t like the ending. GRADE: C
A C sounds generous!
Bob, I find it hard to watch movies and TV shows about danger to children.
Going just by the title, I originally thought this was an adaptation of a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel.
Jerry, the Netflix ERIC is a far cry from Terry Pratchett’s world!
A darn shame that such a good actor took such a poor part.
Patti, I applaud Cumberbatch’s courage in attempted demanding roles (I feel the same way about Daniel Radcliffe’s acting choices). The fault is with the script.
I’m assuming they based this – at least in part – on the disappearance of 6 year old Etan Patz in 1979, who vanished on his way to school in 1979.
Etan Patz.
The puppet thing is a real turnoff for me, but Jackie wants to at least try it.
Jeff, I’m sure you’re right about the disappearance of Etan Patz being a model for this series. I’ll be interested to hear what Jackie thinks of ERIC.