Critical Condition: The Brink

The Brink, an HBO comedy that premieres 8.30 Thursday on SoHo, focuses on a geopolitical crisis and its effect on three disparate and desperate men who must pull through the chaos around them to save the planet from World War III.

“The show is a broader Dr. Strangelove for our times, as a crisis in Pakistan threatens to bring on World War III. Standing between civilisation and disaster are two men, Alex Talbot (Jack Black), a low-level bureaucrat with little on his mind but women, and Secretary of State Walter Larson (Tim Robbins) — a smart man who is just as easily sexually distracted … The show may err toward silliness, but the cast is uniformly good, and every so often a wry jab at American parochialism or some funny throwaway line will catch you by happy surprise. And while it’s cynical at times, it isn’t bleak: For all their faults, Alex and Walter are trying to do the right thing.”

“The series finds its comic stride in the fifth episode and becomes kind of fun. But that’s a long wait, and it’s easy to be discouraged by the way it starts … Political satires set overseas have a higher bar because the territory is less familiar for most viewers. And this is an ambitious and complicated premise, spoofing presidential decision-making; cronyism, hypocrisy and corruption in the military; tyranny and extremism in the Middle East; and Republicans. And with Mr Black in a buffoon’s role, The Brink feels like two different movies spliced together: School of Rock meets Dr. Strangelove.”

“Owing an absurdist debt to Dr. Strangelove, The Brink tries to excavate comedy, or at least fairly scabrous satire, from the threat of nukes in the hands of a lunatic, and a budding international crisis. In that regard, it’s more daring conceptually than it is in practice, with a jokey, anything-for-a-gag tone and a fondness for rat-a-tat banter and insults that plays like Veep’s addled cousin, offering its own look at petty squabbling within the White House and government. In terms of frittering around the edges of being worthwhile but not getting there, The Brink is aptly titled.”

“A black comedy set in Pakistan, where a rogue dictator is about to launch a nuclear strike on Israel? In a spirit of generosity, let’s assume director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) and co-creator Roberto Benabib (Weeds) actually managed to find something hilarious behind that logline before production started. In the spirit of truth, let’s inform you that they did not. The Brink is a grim would-be comedy grindhouse full of half-baked one-liners propping up an overbaked plot. At least the first vomit joke doesn’t arrive until next week’s episode.”