What’s streaming this week: Harrison Ford adds a bit of grit to goofy comedy

When I was a kid, I used to wish I was Harrison Ford. I think this is a man who is a lot to a lot of people, but he’s always been a hero. Famous archeological explorer; tired sci-fi police; space cowboy saky; damn American presidents — the list goes on, and I’d be happy to be any of them.

ow, decades later, nothing has changed. I still want to be like Harrison Ford. He is still the most amazing man on earth. He’s still a hero. I also have a new wish, which is to find a therapist as smart and witty as the character Ford plays in the movie. shrink (AppleTV+)a rickety but largely rewarding series by Team Ted Lasso.

We start with Jimmy (Jason Segel), a clumsy therapist in Los Angeles with lovable friends who lives down a lovely street in a big house with his talented teenage daughter Alice (Lukita). Maxwell).

Everything seems to fit, but really, poor Jimmy is in bad shape. It’s been a year since his wife, Tia, died in a traffic accident, and when we first met, he was throwing a drug-filled pool party in the middle of the week in his backyard.

His nosy neighbor, Liz (Christa Miller), intervenes, and Jimmy wakes up the next morning, hungover, anxious, and desperate for change.

He gets sick of hearing strangers talk about all the things they wish they could improve their lives, but never did. Jimmy can’t fix himself, and he’s not allowed to ‘fix’ anyone else – but what harm does he think there is to trying?

First, Jimmy tells one of his clients to leave their abusive husband. Then he advised an angry young veteran to sign up for an MMA class. You can see where this is going. Jimmy’s unethical policy – telling people what he really thinks, regardless of the consequences – can be life-changing, and not always for the best.

Meanwhile, his daughter ignores him, his estranged best friend Brian (Michael Urie) is desperate to mend their friendship, and his co-worker Gabby (Jessica Williams) ) about to divorce.

Oh, and Jimmy’s grumpy but lovable mentor, Paul (Harrison Ford), has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease – and Paul isn’t one bit pleased with Jimmy’s new testing method. Everything gets complicated.

shrink comes with loads of talent in front and behind the camera. One of its creators, Bill Lawrence, gave us kill death celk. Another, Brett Goldstein, starred, co-wrote and executive produced Ted Lasso (which Lawrence also co-developed).

Another, Jason Segel, was part of a major US sitcom (How I meet your Mother). That’s a lot of chefs.

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To be shrink anything like Ted Lasso? Arrange. It’s another sweet, silly melodrama about a sad guy who’s getting over his head. Somehow that’s even further away, and I don’t know how it feels to support a protagonist who abandons his morality to make some stupid plan to ‘cure’ the guest. your goods.

But I hope that zoom outg knows what it’s doing. “Grief,” says Harrison Ford’s Paul, “is a crafty bastard.” So does this bold but undeniably show.

Its most valuable player is Ford, whose cranky but vulnerable turn is something of an exploration. It’s an adorable performance by the 80-year-old — a performance that will make you laugh and make your heart skip a beat. Manipulation? Just a minute. Unlike its central character, shrink Not to change the world. It’s very pleasant, and I’m fine with that.

Another series that can develop in me is Emma Moran’s sci-fi comedy, Special (Disney+). Imagine a world where all the adults find out that they have superpowers.

Some can fly, others can control time or control the dead. Now, imagine you’re the only person who doesn’t have superpowers. That’s the dilemma faced by a nervous young costume shop assistant, Jen (Máiréad Tyers), whose clumsy roommates band together to find their best friend’s talent, by every possible way.

Moran’s sizzling performance is heavily metaphorical and filled with intriguing themes and concepts. If it can figure out what to do with them, we’ll be the winner. Still, Tyers is kind and it’s nice to have Derry girl‘ Siobhán McSweeney at the party.

Finally, a word above Wolves (Most important +), a soapy slice of supernatural codswallop about teenage werewolves. The only reason I tried it was because the poster revealed the return of Buffy herself, the great Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Alas, she’s barely in the opening episode (she’s playing a fire department investigator or something), and I just don’t have the patience for another episode. Think Sunset for starters, with bad effects, bad acting, lots of poses and a disappointing change from the former vampire assassin. No thanks.