Just about everything from top to bottom on this latest Starz Original series entry is a tried cliché, and maybe that was the intent but to strip it down and expose the visceral underbelly of the current ballet industry. Of course, there's no accuracy in this at all. We have seen it all before in Flashdance and in Black Swan, but also in more subtle forms like in Fame or even Meatballs. On the plus side, the casting is superb, they must have spent a year gathering this ensemble of actor/dancers who have the energy and talent for such demanding and explicit roles. The production quality is excellent with the editing and directing spot-on. I can live with the cliché's as long as I'm not insulted or bored, and F&B is both compelling and entertaining, totally binge-watchable too. But the writers need to reign-in Claire's nonstop suffering and playing the psychotically-damaged victim. She seems completely unable to experience joy on any level and its getting old, leaving me wanting to smack some sense in her; our protagonist MUST have more dimension other than suffering. The rest is as you may expect: she needs money so she strips, one of the dancers is rich so daddy funds her "hobby", the aging star is evil and a coke-head, the rest of the company is envious and punishing, the company is losing money, the would-be benefactor is a pervert, a hobo is the voice of reason, typical offerings from Hollyweird in the cliché'd world of dance. BTW, ballerinas eat and eat heavily, its MODELS who starve themselves.
Review of Flesh and Bone
