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My Review - The Shrink Next Door - My rating 8/10 I never thought I'd be so impressed with Will Ferrell in a dramatic role this series just proves to me not to judge any actor on one aspect of their career.

Will Ferrell has always seemed to me to be a one dimensional comedian and I have to admit I've found him irritating.

Not so anymore his role as the shy impressionable self deprecating Jewish businessman Marty Markowitz ripe for exploitation and manipulation by psychiatrist Ike played by Paul Rudd was a revelation to me.

If this was a movie instead of an 8 part television series both actors would be up for Academy Award consideration in my opinion.

The premise of the Shrink Next Door based on a podcast and TV series both based on the real life story of psychiatrist Isaac Herschkopf, who in 2021 was determined by New York's Department of Health to have violated "minimal acceptable standards of care in the psychotherapeutic relationship.

For this viewer it was like watching a spider coax its willing prey into its web then attacking .

In this case the spider is Ike the Psych not killing but stealing the life of its prey gullible Marty by alienating his willing victim from family and friends until any semblance of self reliance is extinguished.

The Shrink Next Door is not a heavy drama it has moments of great warmth and insight and a wonderful script by 3 women and 3 men.

The Directors Jesse Peretz and Michael Showalter have skilfully created the best series featuring a male duet performance I've seen this year both Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd are mesmerising in the creation of these complex characters I found myself wondering who was the more unwell the patient or the Psychiatrist?

I'm so glad I was recommended by a friend to watch this wonderful series

Ps Kathryn Hahn is wonderful as Marty's feisty sister a great character performance.

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrel are are exceptional together in this; it's interesting to see a more dramatic version of the characters. A perfect representation of mental breakdowns or any other underlining stress related experiences. I'm loving the series so far and I hope many more do too!

I give this a solid 7/10 as it was slow, but the characters were quite good. It's been a long time since I hated a character as much as I do Rudd's.

This isn't a comedy and I don't think it's marketed as such, but for some reason people jump to that conclusion based upon the actors. I see some reviews saying things like "only 1 laugh per hour" or something like that. They have the totally wrong genre here.

This is a good show.

This show is not a barrel of laughs and it's not supposed to be. I saw one reviewer wrote "Jewish people are funny and this should be a laugh riot." I'm not sure if that reviewer is Jewish or not, but either way, seriously? Sorry to sound like Joe Pesci, but are we clowns to you? Sorry the Jews and Jewish characters in the show didn't do their job of cracking you up. News flash: sometimes clowns are sad underneath!

This show is funny at times, but it isn't really a comedy. At most, it's a dark comedy. It's based on a true story of how a person was ruinously manipulated by an unethical therapist who needed therapy himself. You're chuckling one moment and cringing the next, which is exactly the reaction you should be having. In that sense, the show succeeds.

I'm not saying it's perfect. It can be slow at times, and Ferrell's other characters peep through quite a bit. He isn't the strongest player on the show, but he's committed and convincing enough. Paul Rudd is kind of a revelation as the smarmy climber who fools everyone, including his very lovely wife and to some degree even himself, into thinking he's doing good work on behalf of Ferrell's Marty. And Kathryn Hahn is Marty's sister Phyllis is terrific.

Don't watch it if you're looking for a lighthearted cynical romp. This is nuanced human drama about people, family, ethics, ambition, class and social machinations. It's complicated, dark, sometimes shocking and yes, sometimes funny. It's a very smart and engaging show with strong performances that sneaks up on you.

The true story is remarkable and the telling of it here is well done. Set design, performances, sound design, are all impeccably performed. With every episode, my heart breaks for Marty. I truly hope that he is happy now and living his best life.

The actors are great but the story is stomach churning hard to watch. Seeing someone being taken advantage of episode after episode is not great viewing. I will continue to the end but hoping the evil doctor gets what coming to him.

I will watch anything with Kathryn Hahn, because she is exquisite. Paul Rudd is reliable, and Casey Wilson as well. But, I have never seen Will Ferrell playing a character with this depth, and he kills it. This alone would keep me coming back, but this is also a fun and engaging story. So, I love it!!

... but that doesn't mean it's bad. The negative reviews reflect people's expectations, not the quality of the show.

"Not realistic" ... says one review. Problem Is, it's based on a true story.

"Not funny" ... but it's not supposed to be. Two mostly comedic actors play the two leading roles. Their comedic chops make the representation of these two characters pretty ideal. Farrell's innocence and Rudd's slick cockiness really work for these two people.

Watch as long as you're ready to be infuriated from watching the story of an influential man take advantage of a naive person who has never learned to stand up for himself. The fact you get infuriated means Farrell and Rudd are doing a great job.

I don't always agree with critics, but this has a 42% positive among "top professional reviewers" at rotten tomatoes, meaning most reviewers paned this. And I agree it is in the 4/10 star neighborhood. PR flacks can organize shilling of "sexists man" votes, but the can't make a mediocre series better.

Rodger Ebert site panned it, as did Slant Mag, Hollywood reporter, Rolling Stone, Variety, NYTimes etc. The LA Times simply called it "Dull."

My experience with this watching three episode's was that it was utterly predictable and steadily cringeworthy. Ferrell is a talent but seemed to be sleepwalking or simply not wanting to be in the series. Rudd has always played the same moderate anxiety nebbish, and does here. That is fresh for about one minute.

Folks we are in the post-golden age of TV. Audiences are now used to sophisticated, quality entertainment, yet junk like this also manages to get made as well.

4/10 at best.

Across the board: perfectly captures the time period in New York. Great cast gives great performances. But so what? Shrink exploits patient for eight episodes? Too slowly paced out and it gets repetitive very quickly. Could have made a terrific 90-120 minute movie. Cable TV providers ruin more decent movie ideas by stretching them into mini-series.

Great cast of actors that really shine. Marty's sister reminds me of a family member, so relatable, the manipulation and passive aggressive juvenile behavior.

Looking forward to future episodes, so good!

This is the perfect forum for Rudd and Farrell. Their quirky chemistry is evident right off the bat. I love the way it obliquely goes for the heart. It's unlike anything else I've seen in a while. Looking forward to the whole season.

Will Ferrell has been a hit or a miss over the past decade or so but Paul Rudd's career seems to just be climbing. Pairing them up again for a show definitely is a winning combinations. I'd give it a 7/10 because it's more than sparked my interest to continue watching.

First of all, read that title again. Compelling real life DRAMA. A lot of the negative reviews on here are from people saying it's not funny. Well it's not supposed to be, it's not a comedy. Too many people have become accustomed to these actors playing comedic roles but they forget that not everything is a comedy and that actors can try different roles. And if you can watch this and accept it for what it is, you will find that the actors do an excellent job portraying these complex characters. So if you're expecting a comedy, or even to laugh a few times, this isn't the show for you. If you're interested in the story behind what really happened between these two very real people, then you're going to enjoy it.

Masterfully acted by Ferrell and Rudd and that in and of itself makes the series worth watching, however it's tedious and cringe inducing to see the manipulation unfold and it feels like real work while watching - even knowing this happened in real life doesn't elevate viewing satisfaction.

I had hoped to low key chill and just have some fun watching these two - this isn't it.

You need to be old to appreciate "The Shrink Next Door." Viewers and reviewers who dismiss it as too disturbing or upsetting just haven't arrived at the right age. This eight-part series' subject is soul-murder. Killing someone's soul requires time, lots of it, years. Ike's narcissism and sadism disregards this one form of wealth that can't be replaced; and Ike pays, but with the Time of too many innocents.

So if you haven't looked the Devil in your own life in the eye yet, as Will Ferrell's Marty finally does, you're likely young enough to believe in second acts. Maybe that's why the most sickening episodes occur fairly early. I ran through the first three unable to take my eyes off Ferrell or Paul Rudd, both brilliant. Only by the third episode did I start feeling queasy, suspecting I'd been lured into a twenty-first century redo of Madame Bovary or Jude the Obscure. "The Shrink Next Door" is not funny and is not meant to be funny. It's spiritually gruesome, hard to stomach and watch.

That Marty cracks a few nebbish jokes doesn't make this a comedy, even a dark comedy, like the film "Bernie," which it has a great deal in common with. The most gut-wrenching scene takes place near the end at the house in the Hamptons. Marty's dead-looking eyes while he is surrounded not only by long-lost, forgiving family, but the recaptured ambiance of the past-it's the hell of realizing what he allowed to have stolen from him and how he trashed the Time of people he owed his love.

This is one of the most spiritually significant series I've ever seen. The young grow old, hearts get broken a little more every day, and Time is squandered like family finances Marty finally learns to respect. William Blake said in Proverbs of Hell: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Sometimes it does, if you don't mind waking up at fifty or sixty or seventy realizing you destroyed your truest self when it was young and at its strongest, and now youth is gone for good. But unlike his soul-killer, Marty gets to expunge the guilt. He may get the chance to get rid of at least some of the death in his eyes. As I said, "The Shrink Next Door" is not a comedy, not remotely.

I'm not Jewish but consider "The Shrink Next Door" as the most instructive religious production of this millennium.

Fantastic rendition of the podcast

Amazing heartbreaking story

Will and Paul do an amazing job

I have read some reviews complaining it's not funny Spoiler alert it's not a comedy 🙄 That's like saying Jamie Foxx isn't good in Ray because it's not funny.

Everyone in this show ticks me off. Dr. Ike is a horrible person, Marty, just pisses you off with his decisions. Phyllis is overbearing... The list could go on and on. All that being said, they are all perfect. The casting is amazing, the acting is spot on. The emotions I am feeling while watching this train-wreck are excellently crafted and executed. Every episode leaves me feeling anxiety ridden and exhausted. A great watch, but I could not imagine binging this show.

Maybe the cast is brilliant, but the plot.. it's painful to watch one person abusing another one more and more with each new episode. It's not funny, and it makes me feel terrible bad for the main character.

It seemed as if it might have potential but then got way worse. No chemistry between any of the actors, abysmal writing, dialog weak..I cannot imagine how someone thought this was ready to release.

We're starting to see a shadier side of Dr. Ike and that he almost definitely doesn't have Marty's best interests in mind. Up until now I was waiting for something to actually happen and while it didn't yet, Dr. Ike definitely has something underhanded planned for poor Marty. I'm interested to see where this show goes.