"NIP/TUCK: SEASON 5, PART TWO"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Dylan Walsh as DR. SEAN MCNAMARA Julian McMahon as DR. CHRISTIAN TROY John Hensley as MATT MCNAMARA Joely Richardson as JULIA MCNAMARA Roma Maffia as DR. LIZ CRUZ Kelly Carlson as KIMBER HENRY Not Rated Available on DVD October 6 NipTucktheDVD.com Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The fifth season of the edgy FX drama “Nip/Tuck” winds to a close. With Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) recovering from a knife attack and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) discovering that he has breast cancer, the two Beverly Hills plastic surgeons are entering new stages in their lives. Sean has faced his mortality and now must deal with fall-out from his Hollywood connections as well as finding a new protege to replace his son in his eyes (now that Matt isn’t going to fly through med school). Meanwhile, Christian is trying to look at life in a way other than to just get laid and have a good time. While trying to find himself and deal with a completely dysfunctional family, he finds solace in the most unlike person.
WHAT I LIKED
Although I have had access to FX for many years, I never watched “Nip/Tuck.” However, I have held FX up in my mind as a great network, and they are quickly becoming as edgy as HBO used to be in its heyday. Between Showtime (with great shows like “Dexter,” “Californication” and “Weeds”) and FX (with series like “Nip/Tuck,” “Sons of Anarchy” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), there are some new masters in town for bleeding-edge television.
I hope that the lives of plastic surgeons aren’t nearly as psychotic as those shown on “Nip/Tuck,” just as I hope the having sex : saving lives ratio is better in real life than it is on “Grey’s Anatomy,” but this does make for great television.
“Nip/Tuck” is one of those shows that revels in the shortcomings and dysfunction of its characters. You can’t say that Sean and Christian don’t necessarily deserve what they get because they are real scoundrels. There’s a certain charm in watching bad things happen to them.
Each episode of the series wraps itself around a certain cosmetic enhancement, and the show asks some dicey questions like whether it’s ethical to give a three-year-old collagen injections (and I thought that was a no-brainer).
As a red-blooded American male, I really appreciated the jiggle factor on the show, making the series like a high class strip club. Not every female guest star is a ten, but few are below a seven (even the normally manly Katee Sackoff who comes off as a sizzling tart in this series).
There’s a silliness inherent in this series, with characters having wild and crazy compulsions, like a seventeen-year-old medical whiz getting his first blowjob from a woman of questionable gender and Jennifer Coolidge playing a hefty woman looking to get a Kim Kardashian-style butt transplant so she can rap hits like “Yo Stank, Bitch” and honor her alleged African American heritage.
You may not agree with the lives of Drs. Troy and MacNamara (or rather, you really shouldn’t), but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a hell of a time watching them mess it up.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
While “Nip/Tuck” pushes the broadcast standards right up to the line, there are moments where they spend so much time covering up what you want to see that I think the series might be better off on HBO or Showtime. However, like “Sons of Anarchy,” it rarely feels like they’re pulling their punches.
Of course, too much of “Nip/Tuck” in a short amount of time is like surviving a “House M.D.” marathon. You might find its cynicism might rub off on you and make you bitter at life.
DVD FEATURES
Knee deep in the fifth season, there’s usually very little to put on a DVD, and this box set reflects that. There is one featurettte called “Nip/Tuck: The Science of Beauty,” which actually gives a fascinating look at the mathematics and hard science behind cosmetic surgery. This featurette is pretty cool, but it seems rather lonely on the DVD menu.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who like to watch bad things happen to beautiful people.
