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Andrew Bushell, from\u00a0left, Rob Corddry, Meaghan Rath\u00a0and Curtis Lum in \u201cThe Audacity,\u201d a\u00a0comedy-drama series based in Silicon Valley that skewers tech elites.<\/p>\n
Ed Araquel\/AMC<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Audacity\u201d is admirable and exasperating at the same time \u2014 much like the tech moguls the show tries to skewer.<\/p>\n
AMC\u2019s Palo Alto-set, Vancouver-shot tragicomedy series is too smart and densely written to be dismissed as \u201cSilicon Valley\u201d 2.0. That is, until its eccentric, venal and greedy characters do something goofy, which is often. But creator\/showrunner Jonathan Glatzer has more on his mind than geek caricatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a result, there can be tonal whiplash when \u201cAudacity\u201d swings from satiric stereotypes to layered psychology and business acumen that must owe something to Glatzer\u2019s writer-producer stint on \u201cSuccession.\u201d It\u2019s all craftily plotted with zinger-packed dialogue that rewards plowing through arcane data application and financial jargon.<\/p>\n
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Billy Magnussen, left, as Duncan Park, a neurotic and amoral tech CEO, and Meaghan Rath as\u00a0Anushka Bhattachera-Phister, a chief ethicist, in \u201cThe Audacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ed Araquel\/AMC<\/p>\n
The biggest test for \u201cAudacity\u201d viewers, though, will be how much they can tolerate the show\u2019s near-uniformly terrible people. They\u2019re all marvelously acted, but that may be a liability as well as an asset.<\/p>\n
The most irritating is star Billy Magnussen\u2019s Duncan Park. Amplifying the wicked\/whiny jerk persona he\u2019s brought to such shows as \u201cMade for Love\u201d and \u201cThe Franchise,\u201d the actor creates a CEO who\u2019s as needy and neurotic as he is a manipulative sociopath (and proud of it). A motormouthed mass of both amoral and illegal scheming, Duncan can be his own worst enemy. He is also, somehow, effective. He wears his targets down like he\u2019ll exhaust most anyone watching.<\/p>\n
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Zach Galifianakis, left, and Sarah Goldberg in the Silicon Valley-based series \u201cThe Audacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ed Araquel\/AMC<\/p>\n
His therapist JoAnne, played by Sarah Goldberg (\u201cBarry\u201d), has to listen to Duncan the most. She makes investments based on what her ultra-wealthy clients tell her in presumed confidence, and Duncan exploits that by blackmailing her for insider trading tips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Audacity\u201d: Comic drama. Starring Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg, Meaghan Rath and Zach Galifianakis. (TV-MA. Eight 60-minute episodes.) First two episodes available to stream on AMC+ starting Sunday, April 12, at 9 p.m.; one new episode on AMC\u00a0 and AMC+ each following Sunday through May 24.<\/p>\n
Pragmatic but poor by Bay Area standards, JoAnne is a marvel of faceted frustration. She\u2019s also a terrible mother to teenage son Orson (Everett Blunck, as conflicted here as in the recent movie \u201cThe Plague\u201d), who copes with an embarrassing gastrointestinal condition by watching manosphere videos.<\/p>\n
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