Shrinking (Apple TV+): a funny and tender comedy with Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother)

Jason Segel makes a return to form in Shrinking, a comedy that is both comical and melancholic about the daily life of a psychiatrist on the verge of a nervous breakdown, in which he plays opposite Harrison Ford. Verdict.

Is the life of shrinks simpler than ours? Not that of Jimmy (Jason Segel) in any case! After a difficult morning, this widowed psychologist and single father of a teenager, cracks during a session with a patient. Defying all ethics, he tells her that she must leave her companion, with whom she is engaged in a toxic relationship. What she does ! After having his suspenders pulled up by his colleagues, the cynical and disillusioned Paul, played by Harrison Ford, who will soon be found in the sequel toIndianaJones, and the whimsical Gabby (Jessica Williams), he does it again and takes a patient, struggling with anger management issues, to a boxing gym. Worse, he entrusts her with his own problems. Unexpectedly, it seems to work. What if Jimmy had found THE revolutionary technique to help depressed people? Or not… Jason Segel, whom we loved so much in How I Met Your Mother, carries at arm’s length this tender comedy about a shrink who takes the lead. Our opinion.

Shrinking (Apple TV+): a tragicomic series with an inspired Jason Segel

Jason Siegel hasn’t changed since we discovered his baby face and childish gaze in How I Met Your Mother. There are barely a few wrinkles around the corners of his eyes, which accentuate his charm. And he uses it in this comedy where he uses his almost disarticulated body, a bit like Buster Keaton, and where he plays with his sulky pouts, which remind us of the good memories of the time when he softened us and put our zygomatics to rough test on the small screen. In opposition to Harrison Ford, minimalist in the role of the grumpy shrink, Jason Segel is ultra-expressive in that of the tragicomic figure of this professional state of mind. The actor demonstrates a real comic sense in this sitcom, which also asks interesting questions and breaks some taboos on psychiatry.

Shrinking (Apple TV+): A comedy behind the scenes

A formidable breeding ground, the sacred enclosure of the psychology cabinet is the ideal setting for this drama-tinged comedy. A “drama” as they are sometimes called. The focus is placed on psychologists and we discover the dilemmas they face, the problems they share with their patients or the chaos that their lives can be. This series simply shows that they are like everyone else, like us, which is an interesting point of view for anyone who has ever lain on the couch or faced a representative of this corporation. Behind the comedy hides a phenomenon that affects many patients who think that their psychiatrists, helped by their knowledge and their tools, lead happy and balanced lives. This fiction proves just the opposite by making us laugh and think. A good surprise.