ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

TonyCamonte84 'Enlightened' is not particularly easy to get into, which may be the reason for it not being discussed more often as a great show. I felt it flew a bit under the radar, but as I watched both of its seasons I realised that's not due to its quality.It took some guts for the writers to focus an entire show on a completely unlikable person such as Amy Jellicoe. 'The Sopranos' have a mob boss as the protagonist, 'Mad Men' a habitual adulterer, 'The Wire' focuses on gangsters and equally morally bankrupt policemen, politicians, etc., and Dexter is centred around a serial-killer, but all those shows manage to create sympathy for their protagonists by showing them as very flawed in certain aspects yet also very likable in others. We root for Dexter Morgan, Tony Soprano or Don Draper, but find little to create sympathy or empathy with Enlightened's egotistical, annoying, and narcissistic protagonist. It's a gamble, but one that pays off, I feel.Very few other shows manage to create such a good balance between comedy and drama, and portray a character as honestly without over-dramatising the bad nor the good sides. At its best 'Enlightened' is a spot-on character study of somebody you would never want to meet, that tells you a bit more about human nature. At its worst it still manages to be very entertaining, funny, as well as well-produced, superbly acted and fluidly paced.I, for one, like the first season a bit more, as I felt the 2nd season suffered from focusing on the plot too much, which left the characterisation a bit under-developed in season 2. Nonetheless, even that was very good television with moments that bordered on brilliance. It's a shame HBO canceled it, as I thought it was among the best shows on television alongside the still-running 'Mad Men' and 'Boardwalk Empire'.

tlonuqbar NOW that it's starting to get interesting, it ends? I saw all the first season feeling that I was testing the show each & every episode I saw, since the main character & the tone of the show quite put me off.The second season I just saw 4 episodes (because all my other series are in a break) but THEN I started to get really interested in the show, because it didn't centred in the anger or anguish that has been the main tone of the main character, but centred on the reality that life is downs but ALSO ups, greed & much needed go back to ethics, TO GIVE proper treatment to people, acknowledgement to the deserving ones...So myself NOW I would like to see a 3rd season in THIS tone, "we are in a deep S***T reality but it can be improved, it should be improved...

heroicafilms-1 Each time I watch an episode of Enlightened I am blown away by the nuance, complexity and profound truths of this show. It works for me on every level. There is no other show on television that succeeds for me in the way it does-- making me cry and laugh, never saccharine but always sincere. The writing is uniformly superlative, supported by killer performances, direction and excellence in all other aspects of the show.I will be truly mortified if it isn't picked up for another season. We need this type of show. It shows us where we are as a society and, like Amy, offers us hope and a potential direction we can go in. If we choose to. I think we need to choose to and I sure hope HBO does too.

Murli I wanted to see this series solely for Laura Dern. The first episode seemed okay. A woman has a meltdown at work after finding out that the boss she was having an affair with was transferring her out of her department. So she goes away to a retreat, fixes herself, and comes back to find that her old job has been filled, and she's got a new job...in the basement of the company working with computers.I thought that the story would develop as I got deeper into the series but that's where I was wrong. The series deals with Amy and her issues and we're left wondering if her Hawaiian retreat actually helped her or not. Each episode, with the exception of the second last one, deal's with one of Amy's hangups and I was starting to get frustrated with it.Laura Dern does a good job as a wacky person who just can't see past herself. She's her own worst enemy, choosing to ignore what's right in front of her face, deal with her predicament and move on and do something about it. I was getting fed up of seeing her continually go back to her old floor and try to confide in Krista, one of two characters (besides Janice) whom I found two faced and really despised.Thankfully, the last episode sort of made up for most of the series and I'm interested in seeing where Amy goes with her new found power. As long as the series gets another shot. Aside from Laura Dern, the whole cast that makes up the Cogentiva floor is well cast and funny, with each person contributing to the weirdness that makes up the DNA of a basement floor worker. Timm Sharp as the politically incorrect, nerdish, loutish, priggish head is very funny. Mike White also deserves a mention because he says a lot more with his quiet demeanour and smile than with any dialogue (but I had to laugh at his hack in password!).All in all, I'd recommend it but bear in mind that Amy is highly annoying and frustrating most of the times but there are lucid moments when she gets the picture and you think there is hope for her after all.