Looking: The Complete Series and The Movie [DVD] [2016]

mature, well-acted heart-rending drama that was gone too soon.

What a great series find it very difficult not to binge it. Knowing it was such a short series run I save it each episode but sometimes did end up watching two or three back to back. Thank goodness we did get the TV movie which wrapped things up although you can’t help but think what would’ve been if it could’ve gone on for a few more full series. But what we got is far better than it being dragged out for too long, however, I would have loved to have seen where they we’re going to take it.

Love Looking felling love with Richie great gay box set watched it three times

This series, totalling about ten hours, is an amazing experience. It just hooks you in totally to these lives and the characters start to seem like your friends who are revealed more and more as it goes on. Essentially it is about three gay men in San Francisco who are friends: Patrick, Agustin, who live together, and Dom who shares a flat with Doris. Over the many episodes we get a detailed sense of their lives, their loves, their aspirations. so that it becomes a sort of paean to friendship, and also in that particular city. The emphasis is a little more on Patrick, whose family members we get to meet as well. We follow him really closely in his relationships with Richie, and later things get complicated with his boss, Kevin, played by Russell Tovey with an English accent. They work for a computer games company, of which Kevin is a manager. The way these dynamics can be explored is really wonderful, thanks both to the acting and to the very sharp script, which takes you far into the intimacies it describes, with no shortage of sexy moments either. However it doesn't stop at this, but looks into questions of background and how it affects us even when we think it doesn't; the use of experience, the chance happenings of life, unexpectedly giving things a new direction.It has some excellent music and club sequences, which remain very psychologically focused as well as getting lost in the music (including an extended dance scene to Sister Sledge that you never want to end). The whole thing is unique, affirming of life, and focuses squarely on the gay experience in that city in the present day - watching it is almost as good as going there. The series stopped after two seasons, the second longer than the first, and was rounded off by an 80-minute film - it is amazing how all the threads are tied together in a way that is satisfying and lets you down gently; although I think I'm going to really miss these guys ... A lot of issues are explored over the total span - but it is all blended together seamlessly. It's a triumph, and this is from someone who balks at watching anything over 90 minutes ...

I almost gave this series 1 star. Why? Because it’s way, WAY too short. A TV series this astoundingly brilliant deserves to go on for 10 seasons. I could have watched this for years and years. Why, oh why did HBO cancel it? Such an idiotic and tragic decision.I had never heard of “Looking”. I wanted to watch a couple of feel-good gay movies to get me out of the lockdown doldrums and Amazon suggested this. The reviews were promising so I bought the Blu Ray unseen and unknown. Finally Amazon’s algorithms came up with a winner!Within moments of loading up episode 1, I was hooked. This took me right back to my times of doing the gay scene, back when I was tragically looking for love in all the wrong places. Was I as neurotic and desperate as Patrick back then? Yep, I was. That’s probably why I loved this series so much ... I can identify with Patrick so much. (And no, I never found love in a gay club all those years ago, only disappointment and eventually heartbreak.)The writing is superb, the direction is brilliant, and the acting!! OMG, are these people really acting? Or is this a reality show, following them through their lives? Jonathan Groff is the standout in a fantastic cast; his performance is outstanding. I just wanted to hug him all the time and tell him to take a chill pill. He is utterly adorable - I can’t remember a more perfect performance in a TV series.The downside is, as I said before, it’s nowhere near long enough, and therefore I felt unfulfilled and genuinely sad when the tie-up movie ended. I wanted to see more of their lives. I wanted to see much, much more. It can’t possibly end there!!!! :(How could HBO have ended this here? They really are getting a reputation for creating brilliant TV, then destroying their creation to the anger of fans (eg GoT). Their decision makers need to be sacked.