"United States of Tara"Showtime
Created by Diablo Cody
Starring Toni Collette
Current Season: 1
Number of Episodes to date: 12
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Showtime’s newest original series, "United States of Tara", explores the idea of multiple personalities and the repercussions it creates for those involved. Toni Collette stars as Tara, a married mother of two who has multiple personality disorder and the "normal" life she attempts to live.
The show is based on an idea from Steven Spielberg (also an executive producer) and developed by Diablo Cody (Oscar award winner for "Juno"). Throughout the series you experience Cody's unique and extremely realistic dialogue. This help drives the character development aside from Tara and her alters. The main cast includes Tara's husband, Max, her two teenage children Kate and Marshall and her sister Charmaine.
Collette's acting is truly an accomplishment. She essentially plays four characters and does a masterful job. I'm not sure many actors could pull of this role with such ease. In each episode she plays a minimum of two completely different characters, ranging from a teenager to a redneck (a man, by the way). Other standouts from the show include Keir Gilchrist as Marshall who plays a gay teenager having to deal with his sexual identity and Rosemarie DeWitt as Tara's sister.
For those who had issues with the dialogue from "Juno" may have the same feelings about "Tara". Cody's writing style is sometimes confusing, but also contains more real-life talk. I'm interested to see how the next season plays out, the first season mostly deals with Max trying to determine what caused Tara's multiple personalities to appear in the first place. There isn't any deep conflict and that brings me cause for concern. Overall the show is well done with some great acting on display. I'd say give it a chance if you can appreciate good writing and superb acting chops.
