Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

eva-therese-701-10299 That wasn't an attempt at being snide, in case you were wondering. I'm not from America so I have no idea what this series is to people who are from the States but not from New Orleans, but for me it was as fascinating look into a place and people I didn't know anything about going in. And while there can be said a lot of good about the narrative trope of having an outsider who works as a link to the audience by asking all the questions that they want the answers to, I personally enjoy once in a while being thrown in at the deep and watching characters going about their daily lives and routines and if there's something I don't understand I will have to infer the meaning or else just live with the mystery. Of course it isn't all colourful costumes and plastic beards. Most of the characters and themes like the story arch of the chef or the violinist could be told with any place as a background, but since it takes place here, we learn about New Orleans food and music through them. The stories of police brutality and corruption could also, sadly, have happened anywhere, but the hurricane made everything worse and more chaotic. In the end, this is a slice of life, where we follow a group of people in their home town, until we leave them, partly changed, partly the same, without any special conclusion or wrap-up. Some doors are closed other are opened and we could easily have followed them for four more years. New Orleans might be a special place, but the people in it are just people; human, fragile and endearing even with all their flaws.

solpsizm One caveat to this review: I've only watched about halfway into season 2.I tried real hard to like Treme, but despite multiple attempts and a season and a half of investment I just couldn't. When this first debuted, I tried twice to get into it but couldn't get past the second episode. I recently started watching this on HBOGO after having watched The Wire again. With the same creator/showrunner I gave this show the benefit of the doubt, and while season 1 does improve a lot as it goes on until a brilliant final episode, the first episode of season 2 took a few tries to slog through and the improvement after that wasn't nearly as much in season 2 as in season 1 after the first couple episodes, which caused me to stop watching this.The reason why it was almost a chore to get through the first couple of episodes wasn't because it was slow, which it was. Slow isn't bad by default, and I like shows that take their time layering their characters and stories. However, the problem with Treme IMO is that the characters are not likable or compelling.By likable I don't mean the kind where the writers manipulate the audience into rooting for them. But there has to be something about them that either makes me care what happens to them, good or bad. Or something about their situation that makes me want to see what happens to them.But what the characters that were presented to me after the first couple of episodes were: a part-time trombone player who tries to chump the people around him, an Indian chief/handyman who killed or at least tried to kill a kid for stealing his tools, an annoyingly outspoken musician/DJ who has an overblown sense of his entertainment value and a coke addict street musician who hits women when he's angry. Characters need not be nice or pretty on screen to be likable or compelling, but after a season and a half the way I would describe these characters is not that much different than the descriptions just offered.The other characters are for the most part ones who you would like in real life but who, really, have no basis for being on screen. The closest characters to being having any dramatic basis or being likable/compelling are the bar owner who lost her brother in Katrina and who subsquently gets raped as a result of the dissolution of New Orleans, and an outspoken English professor/activist who then commits suicide that we surmise is from the aftermath of Katrina. In season 2 we are introduced to two new main characters: a carpetbagger from Houston who makes millions from the reconstruction and a police lieutenant who ruffles feathers in his department by caring about his city. Neither are stories that compelled me to watch further.There are some great actors here, the directing and writing of each episode is solid, and the final episode of season 1 is a beautifully made collage. However, there is a reason why fictional TV shows and moviesdon't follow real life people: we're boring. Even the most most raw, gritty and realistic TV shows, such as the Wire or Six Feet Under, distill real life into characters and stories which are compelling.Sometimes when watching this show I felt as if I were watching a show whose primary aim was to subsidize musicians who the vast majority of people have never heard of, or to help bring attention and revenue to a city in need of attention and revenue. While those are worthy goals, it simply does not make for good entertainment.Also, Davis Macaleary, the part time musician/DJ, is probably one of the more annoying characters to hit the small screen in recent times.Furthermore... if you're not a huge fan of jazz or blues, then be warned: in every episode there are multiple scenes of people playing music, mostly real musicians who aren't even characters in the story. The scenes are basically the camera watching them documentary style sans any drama. I like jazz or blues but after hours of watching people play with absolutely no dramatic purpose, combined with a lack of any likable or compelling characters/stories, I tuned off.

Sven Andersson I've now watched quite a few episodes of this show, and I though it would be fun to give you a Swede perspective of it. Oddly enough, my own home town of Gothenburg has some things in common with New Orleans. In Sweden, Gothenburg is known as the place that is more relaxed than the rest of the country, and the inhabitants are thought to be different - almost a breed apart.Luckily we haven't had the misfortune of nearly getting our town flattened out by a hurricane flood. I really admire the people of New Orleans for surviving this and beginning to rebuild their great city. They have a lot of spirit - that's for certain.Treme contains a lot of music. This is both a blessing and a curse, in my opinion. My grandfather has a huge (I really mean this - its HUGE!) collection of jazz records - a lot of it is trad jazz. So in my family we have a kind of tradition of listening to jazz records. There's a lot of other evolutions of Jazz in the show like soul, funk etc. but even if I'm used to all these genres from New Orleans I don't find all the performances in the show enjoyable. During some episodes it becomes a drag to sit through music you just don't like that much. But I have to say I especially enjoy almost all of the second line, soul/funk and bounce stuff. Actually, this show led to my discovery of bounce - a style I really enjoy.The story of Treme feels a lot like The Wire - it focuses on different aspects of life in the recovering city. I thought the video-blogging professor and the struggling chef were the most engaging story lines. Especially the restaurant business, in fact; it made me really want to try New Orleans cuisine. I think HBO should push for exporting this show to many other countries to bring probably much needed food tourism to New Orleans.The Mardi gras indians remain inexplicable to me as a Swede. Are they some kind of mock indians? According to Wikipedia, they are... But I feel the whole thing feels stupid somehow - like a Swede dressing up in a freaky Same costume for some special holidays. I just don't get it. One also wonders what the Big Chief is actually doing for a living when he is not sewing on his costume. This whole Indian thing is of course a depiction of a certain expression of culture in New Orleans - I know this. But it seems a little too odd. what's the point? Mostly the indians remind me of lion fish.It's a little unfortunate that both Det. Lester Freamon of The Wire and the Big Chief are heavily into handicrafts because it makes you associate the two... which brings me to Antoine Batiste - the trombonist. He is too much like "The Bunk" from The Wire in both appearance and demeanor, sometimes. But as the show wears on this gets better, I feel.Despite the few negative things I have to say about the show, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Don't be surprised if I show up looking for a special Treme-based tour of the city and the New Orleans people end up ignoring/tiredly staring at my stupidly gawking and sun-baked Nordic face as I am herded about by some tired guide...

Pamela Series TV is some of the best written, best acted, and all around best filmed entertainment out there these days. I have loved Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, and Boardwalk Empire in 2010. But Treme tops my list of favorites. Of all these excellent shows, Treme has been the one I've loved the most, the one I've watched over and over and still haven't tired of, the one I'll be buying the Season 1 set of.I guess I love it for three reasons. I do enjoy a good character study, and these characters are all wonderful, non-stereotyped, and fascinating. Davis may be my favorite, but it's a tough pick.I'm a pretty big music fan, especially blues, and every episode is crammed full of goodies of all kinds and before you know it you're thinking, "well I'll be damned, that's Elvis Costello" or somebody else real in the musical lower stratosphere.I'm not from New Orleans. Only visited a couple of times, but the meld of cultures and history that has produced the uniqueness of New Orleans has always fascinated me and I greatly enjoy being smack in that city via these episodes.I'm happy to read reviews from locals who testify to the accuracy of the show. It feels true, but just like accents, if you don't or haven't lived in the middle of it for a long time, you can't really tell if it's absolutely true blue or not.I'm hoping Treme will pick up some steam with Season 2. Season 1 seems to have gotten good reviews, but not a lot of fan-follow. There isn't much chatter about it on the HBO message boards, nor anywhere else I've seen. This show is way, way too good to end anytime soon.