There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

'Dollhouse' has such a good concept that failure would be a big surprise. In the hands of Joss Whedon, a capable showrunner, it shines. 'Dollhouse' stars 'Buffy' alumna Eliza Dushku as an agent of a secret organization that completely erases the minds of its operatives and replaces them with a temporary artificial mind that is perfectly suited to each individual operation. This means that if they're tasked with a hostage mission, they will implant the mind of a hostage negotiator into their agent - and if their customer wants a night of perfect sex, they will implant the mind of a high-class prostitute.With this concept the show can go pretty much anywhere in its standalone episodes - there's nightclubbing, bank robberies, woodland hikes with human hunting, stalked pop stars, religious cults and of course a misunderstood FBI agent trying to uncover a conspiracy. Actually I think that one of the faults of the show is that it has too few episodes that center around a single operation ordered by a client of the Dollhouse.Mostly that doesn't matter, though, as the main story arc of the show launches early and is very suspenseful and compelling. The places Season 2 goes are really unexpected and the show is constantly pulling the rug from under your feet.

My first thought after finishing it all these years later after it aired and was canceled was this: this must be what people felt when Firefly was canceled.If you pay attention to Whedon's work from the past and his perspective on something in particular: feminism. You'll see that this whole show could be a metaphor for a man trying to be a good ally. Right up until his execution of an exploration, of what is certainly an examination on society and specifically how women are treated in it but not limited to just women. And while it's doing this it missteps. It's widely known FOX stepped in and messed with this (most predominantly the costume wear and hyper sexual themes, go figure and making Echo a less empathetic character from the get go), but the entire way it does not ever try to assert that it's showing you something that is terrible and is NOT condoning these things. All of the men in the show, including Paul, who is trying to find Caroline (Echo), throughout the first season missteps frequently. "Pleasure" workers, gender spectrum, grief, mourning, identity -- humanity. And even more, all the while being hamstrung. But the heartbreaking thing is not that it obviously could have done much better, but that a show that decided to examine these things in such a way was also attacked at the time for doing so. I remember watching the show initially myself and not getting into it, which -- this thing definitely has pacing issues. But I can definitely say that at the time that I watched this show I was not ready for these concepts or interested in them at all, and as such, they were completely lost on me. I did not give it it's due and a lot of people didn't, it seems. And here's the thing. I can't forgive a lot of shows for pacing issues, sometimes mediocre acting, conflicting themes, and other issues that happens when a lot of hands are in the same pot of a project. But this one, I can. Even an imperfect work that looks at these things, especially during that time is worthy of my respect, I think. Seemingly random with Whedon's trademark characters and development we always are grounded in the one assertion that this is not okay. The fact that it never buckled in doing that every time, for so long until a new season and changed it up only slightly to make her more empathetic -- kind of shows the dedication in displaying that fact for all to see -- while getting canceled, unfortunately. It is important that it tried to do this, when it did this, and how it did it. More and more the show strays towards moral ambiguity after it's already established what is right and wrong. Blurring the lines with the protagonists themselves in order to examine morality itself. Not as poignantly and eloquently as it could have. But it's pretty dang clear as it gets further into season 2 that we really can't expect a straight edge from anybody. Victor and Sierra as well are characterized much better in the second season. Showing us that there are always things about us that fundamentally are just a part of our identity and that is not attached to morality.Also, the best dialogue and exploration of the characters in this show are always the ones with the best lines and active dialogue because we are meant to know what it is from their lens. And how often people that can't try and view things from a different lens end up missing everything. The point, themselves, their emotions, and it literally messes up the world. It could have been less eloquent too, no? To stop babbling though, I'll finish with this, the general dovetailing and ending of the show, and the final episode, are also a slow burn. Probably because of the cancellation but I think it sticks the landing better than most any other show I've seen. In fact the most emotional I felt during the whole thing was in the ending. Because in the end:Sometimes the only way to become whole and the only way to move on is to dismantle our sense of self and become something new again. And sometimes the only way we can do that is to go home. And this is why it matters so much more than Firefly, to me.

It is in and of itself a good show, so its a shame to see them use what is basically a lame title since if you don't know the show you know the title-and if its lame you don't spend time with the show. The acting is decent and the concept is decent also. It seems that there are very few new shows that stand the test of time unless they are MASH. Thats too bad because this one was a good idea-granted it probably wasn't designed for a long haul. I'm tired of the TV environment as it all too frequently contains predictable shows with dull plot lines. I liked many shows in the beginning-Person of Interest started out good and then became a series of incomprehensible exchanges in darkened rooms that nobody knows the location of. Burn Notice was another one that started good-and then became implausible. Well I thought it did. How could a guy that smart get burned in the first place? Maybe this show attempts to answer all these enduring questions in one fell swoop. Who knows.I do know it was better than 'A Cabin in the Woods.' What a pile of rubbish that was. Good old Joss Whedon & his effeminate title choices.

This TV series, about a secret organization who uses humans to complete missions, then have their memory erased after their missions are completed, could have had potential. However, the boring story-lines and mediocre acting made this show a drag to watch.Each episode mostly center on Eliza Dushku's character, but the subplot about Tahmoh Penikett's FBI agent character trying to track down the organization is not hashed out very well and distracts the viewers from following the main story of the episode. While the main theme regarding the secret organization is somewhat interesting, the uneven execution of the stories, lack of action, sub-par drama and mediocre characters make this a weak TV show. Many series of the 2000s and 2010s, including this one, lack the charm and fun, which make you yearn for the better shows of the 1980s and before.Grade D