Government Cheese TV Review: David Oyelowo leads a surreal retro comedy from Apple TV+

Plot: A surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. When Hampton Chambers is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. During his absence, Hampton’s wife, Astoria, and sons, Einstein and Harrison, have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton’s return spins their world into chaos.

Review: The aesthetics of filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Joel, and Ethan Coen are unique, original, and ultimately divisive for audiences. Love or hate them, you cannot deny that Anderson and The Coen Brothers offer something few filmmakers can replicate. The new Apple TV+ series Government Cheese offers an attempt to tell a family-oriented comedy-drama set in the late 1960s with the quirky feel of a Wes Anderson film if The Coen Brothers had directed it. Blending a dreamlike atmosphere with a deliberately off-kilter production design, Government Cheese works thanks to the stellar leading performance from David Oyelowo, who once again proves he is one of the most underrated actors working today. Supported by an ensemble that includes Simone Missick, Jeremy Bobb, and Bokeem Woodbine, Government Cheese is an appealing and mature series that is as offbeat as it is unique.

Government Cheese opens with Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo), a convict serving time for check fraud who finds faith while incarcerated. While working in prison, he comes up with a brilliant idea for an electric drill that is capable of sharpening itself. Once paroled after a bizarre prison riot that claims the life of his cellmate, Hampton surprises his family upon his return. His estranged wife, Astoria (Simone Missick), is not excited for her spouse to be back home. At the same time, Hampton’s genius son Einstein (Evan Alexander Ellison) is a bit happier than his troubled younger son Harrison (Jahi Winston). Hampton aims to restore his family to where they deserve to be by selling his invention to local mega-company RocketCorp. Still, he must first contend with a debt owed to a local criminal syndicate, The Prevost Brothers. Over the ten episodes of the first season of Government Cheese, Hampton’s schemes have become increasingly complex as his future becomes less and less certain.

Most of the ten episodes of Government Cheese clock in close to the half-hour mark, giving the series a quick pace that keeps the material lively and does not allow it to fall into the pitfalls of becoming too serious. At the same time, the series plays with the comedy throughout in a way that never turns, making the humor overshadow the drama. For the first few episodes, the series keeps the surreal elements of the plot under control. Still, by the third chapter, Hampton’s interaction with a character played by Sunita Mani takes the series format in a different direction. Louis Cancelmi, who plays one of the Prevost Brothers, represents another thread in the narrative that reminded me of quite a few moments from The Royal Tenenbaums and Raising Arizona. At the same time, a subplot involving Bokeem Woodbine’s character Bootsy and a robbery of a synagogue was hilariously dark and reminiscent of The Ladykillers.

While set in the late 1960s with elements of intolerance and free-spirited hippie culture, Government Cheese never spends too much time addressing racism or civil rights matters. Instead, Hampton and Astoria are solid community members, and skin color is rarely addressed. Gender dynamics and religion factor heavily into the plot, but both work because they are handled organically within the plot rather than superficially. David Oyelowo plays Hampton Chambers as a charming and smooth-talking guy who wants to succeed while hiding all his bad deeds and mistakes. Simone Missick is a stellar complement to Hampton and never takes him at his word, knowing his true motivations and character underneath. Both actors have great chemistry on screen despite a massive wedge in their marriage. The dynamic between Oyelowo and Missick works with the actors portraying their kids, with Evan Ellison and Jahi Di’Allo Winston holding their own opposite the veterans.

Co-created by Aeysha Carr (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Woke), who serves as showrunner alongside Paul Hunter, Government Cheese also features writing from Wes Brown, Katherine Kearns, Hugh Moore, Migizi Pensoneau, and Cece Burke. Paul Hunter directed multiple episodes and brings his experience helming music videos to give the series a crisp, technicolor look that combines retro designs that are era-appropriate to the 1960s with a whimsical and kinetic tone. Other directors include Sylvain White, as the series keeps things moving at an energetic pace, even when episodes seem to take detours along the way. Consistently clocking in closer to the half-hour mark, each episode serves the overall narrative, which comes together nicely by the finale. My only complaint is that the series, which is designed as the first in an ongoing tale, offers little closure and feels somewhat anticlimactic in the end.

Full of great music and fantastic performances from David Oyelowo and Simone Missick, Government Cheese never overuses the visual strangeness of the series to overshadow character development or plot. The story is intriguing, and by the tenth episode, some plot threads that were opened in the premiere are addressed, but not in a way that ends the story. Government Cheese very much feels like the first part of a larger tale but one that we are left wondering why we should invest in when the credits roll on the last episode. I would love to watch more of this story to see David Oyelowo and Simone Missick in their impeccably cool, retro costumes, but there must be a compelling reason to return. Government Cheese is not a mystery or action-oriented but a slice of life from the past full of intriguing characters, but maybe not enough of a story to earn a second season.

Government Cheese premieres on April 16th on Apple TV+.

Government Cheese

GOOD

7

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