The Bear (2022) - Review

The Bear is an excellent dive into the restaurant industry while reflecting on grief and growth, the filmmaking in the show reminds me a lot of The Safdie Brothers’ work in Good time or Uncut Gems, where excessive close-ups, quick editing and overlapping dialogue build the tension and anxiety, and The Bear does that just as well. The performances are fantastic as well, Jeremy Allen White is amazing as Carmy, but the standout for me was Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie, a classic Chicago asshole who is hilarious and gets a great amount of growth this season. As previously mentioned, the filmmaking is great, but the pen-ultimate episode brings it to a whole another level. Every one in front of and behind the camera bring their A-game, and the chaos the episode creates hits you so hard. The only nitpick I have, is this explosion of tension happens too suddenly. Perhaps that was the point, but I felt like we were missing an episode or only a couple of scenes where the tension built more. I felt like tension was subsiding rather than boiling over, so when the chaos began, it was more shocking than dreadful. Despite this huge nitpick, I really thought this series was great, and it used its filmmaking tools, writing and performances to great effect.