Rain Dogs (2023)
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Rain Dogs Review
Rain Dogs is a British dramedy series that premiered on HBO Max in 2023. It’s a flawed, but very well acted and engaging series.
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“I’m just a girl standing in front of a debt collector
asking him to give her a shitty job“
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The show is about an unconventional love story between a working-class single mother, her young daughter and a privileged gay man. The acting on this series is sublime and this is the prime reason to see it. Jack Farthing is excellent and very believable in the role with especially strong facial expressions while Daisy May Cooper is a revelation.
Cooper was so memorable as Costello, this underprivileged woman who leads such a hard life trying to care for her daughter and find jobs to support the two of them. Her line delivery is quite wry in that quintessential British manner and it’s very easy to root for this woman. She’s both formidable and soft at the same time in such a layered role.
My issue with this series is the relationship between the two that seemed a bit too toxic for my personal taste. I get that this almost sadomasochistic dynamic was meant to be difficult to watch, but at times Selby was way too unlikable in his horrendous treatment of his supposed best friend. So, it was difficult for me to root for the guy and I found his scenes on his own muted and emotionally and plotwise.
But the Costello scenes were for the most part a delight due to great acting and excellent characterization on display. The show is also very well scored with such an eclectic, fun score. There is a lot of kinetic energy and strong editing that was present in every episode of this brisk and highly entertaining show.
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The dialogue and humor are both terrific and the best episodes were usually outstanding, but there were also a couple of episodes where the mayhem was overly accentuated and the crazy scenarios were a bit too over-the-top. A stronger tone and better focus would have made this series so much better.
Overall, Rain Dogs is a solid British dramedy that is offset by some tonally uneven episodes and an unlikable character in Selby, but Costello was a delight and Daisy May Cooper a revelation in the role. It’s a messy series that often did not work, but when it did, it was a blast to watch.
Worst Episodes: The Small World of Florian Selby and Emotional Erection.
Best Episodes: It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City and Jesus Loves a Hustler.
