The Studio, Apple TV+, review: Seth Rogen's superb comedy both skewers and celebrates Hollywood
A comedy written by and starring Hollywood types that simultaneously celebrates and satirises Hollywood while rolling out star cameo after cameo sounds kind of narcissistic, right?
And Seth Rogen 's The Studio (Apple TV+) is certainly that. But its mix of screwball capering, toe-curling cringiness and razor-sharp one-liners is so laugh-out-loud funny and brilliantly performed, any notion that this is simply Hollywood eating itself ends up hitting the cutting room floor with a satisfying thud.
The action opens with Rogen's character Matt Remick, a variation on the David Brent school of neediness yet somehow much more likeable, finally landing his dream job as head of Continental Studios, a Hollywood outfit of the old school, now under pressure from the rise of the streaming giants. Matt's mission is to save proper movies from being snuffed out by algorithmic number crunchers.
Which looks like making him the King Canute of the silver screen. As he blunders his way from one self-inflicted disaster to another in a set of immaculately crafted set-pieces played out in real time, Matt's dream is only ever one shot away from turning into a nightmare.
You don't have to be a movie buff to revel in The Studio's on-the-money evocation of showbiz shallowness, but it might help. Episodes that take down awards show chicanery, directorial self-indulgence and AI's role in job-destroying carry the sting of authenticity thanks to the cast Rogen has lined up.
Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kravitz, Ice Cube and, man of the moment, Adam Scott are just some of the famous faces clearly revelling in settling scores with the Hollywood game. But The Studio is no hatchet job; a palpable love of the world it's poking fun at shines through in every scene.
Rogen's supporting regular cast, from Catherine O'Hara as Matt's acerbic former boss to Kathryn Hahn's manic hair-twirling marketing exec, are exceptional, with the lesser-known Ike Barinholtz as Sal Saperstein, Matt's slippery right-hand man, a masterclass in oily self-preservation.
While The Studio has an overarching story, the episodes also cleverly serve as stand-alone comedies. Best of all is The Oner, a perfectly formed farce built around the art of the continuous take, itself filmed as a single shot. It's worth a comedy Oscar of its own. But Matt's team tying themselves in knots over box-ticking in Casting – 'Does their gayness mitigate their whiteness?!' – runs it a close second.
But enough gushing. Time to get the popcorn in.
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