DVD Review: Barry: The Complete First Season

Barry: The Complete First Season
[DVD Barry]

My television viewing is a bit behind-the-times — I don’t subscribe to any “pay cable” or “streaming services” — I stick with traditional cable and broadcast networks. So, watching the Emmy Awards the past couple of years has been an exercise in frustration, as most of the nominated works have been on services I don’t get. On the other hand, this has also introduced me to a number of interesting shows that I otherwise might not have tried to track down, especially those that come out on DVD and which are added to the libraries’ collection.

Case in point — Barry, which airs on HBO, was created by and starring former Saturday Night Live regular Bill Hader. Barry has been nominated for Best Comedy each of the past two years (2018/2019), and cast members Bill Hader and Henry Winkler have each been nominated in the acting categories for the series, with Winkler actually winning for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. When I saw that the libraries had the first season of Barry on DVD, I had to try it. It’s quite the series! Season One was comprised of only eight 30-minute episodes.

While there are, indeed, some comedic elements to the show, I found it to be more of a dark and morbidly funny drama. Hader stars as Barry Beckman, a former U.S. Marine who has been working as a hitman-for-hire, managed by Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root), who also serves as a tough-love father figure to Barry. Though the people he kills are usually scummy “bad guys”, Barry’s been growing increasingly disillusioned by his career and looking for a way out. When he is sent to L.A. for a hit, he follows his target into a warehouse where an acting class is being taught by egotistical acting coach Gene Cousineau (Winkler), and Barry is accidentally roped into participating. Through various twists in the plot, Barry ends up enrolled in the acting class, while still using his deadly skills for his “day job”. In the class, Barry falls for the intense Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg), Cousineau’s most skilled student, who’s got a raft-full of emotional issues of her own.

The humor is derived from the characters, their relationships and the odd juxtaposition of Barry’s violent job vs. his desire to leave the dead bodies behind and become a stage actor. All the cast members are superb, particularly Hader and Winkler. A wide variety of guest roles come and go over the season, and featured some particularly memorable performances.

All of which are easy to recommend. On the other hand, this is an HBO production, and therefore there are no language filters — if you’re not a fan of swearing, don’t even consider trying this show out — it will “trigger” you. If you can handle an excessive amount of “four letter words”, I strongly recommend this. But I’d never call this a comedy…it’s a drama with some comedic elements.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ official Barry web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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