Coastal Elites (TV Special 2020)

Coastal Elites: Directed by Jay Roach. With Bette Midler, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy, Sarah Paulson. Five characters make confessions under quarantine that touch on their lives during the 2020 pandemic and living in a world of deeply divided politics.

“This HBO film, a series of five blistering monologues (comedic with an edge) about the current state of politics, the pandemic, etc. was written by Paul Rudnick. Each of the five actors plays a character dealing with life in 2020 America. Each character talks to a camera while in quarantine. And no itu0026#39;s not static; itu0026#39;s a lively and engrossing 90 minutes (or thereabouts).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBette Midler starts things off superbly as Miriam, a woman who has been booked for attacking a man in a coffee shop. She talks about her life in New York as a middle-class Jewish woman and the things that are important to her. Next is Dan Levy as a gay actor in LA trying to get a role in a gay superhero movie and dealing with gay stereotypes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThird is Issa Rae as the daughter of a wealthy Black businessman who has political ties through her years in boarding school and who talks about the politics of wealth and privilege. Fourth is Sarah Paulson as a meditation guru who talks about her visit back home with her working class family and the blindness of political fervor. Last is Kaitlyn Dever as a NYC nurse dealing with the day-to-day grind in a hospital flooded with pandemic patients and the loss of one special patient.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTough, trenchant, and funny.”