Mammals review: James Corden is a chef whose marriage is cracking in this bleak dramedy

Mammals review: James Corden is a chef whose marriage is cracking in this bleak dramedy
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Well, it's certainly an interesting time to be in the James Corden business. The late-night host's recent egg-related imbroglios and punchline dust-up will likely be a boon to Mammals, Amazon Prime's twisty dramedy starring Corden as a chef (…) whose relationship begins to disintegrate after a tragedy. Though Mammals serves as a reminder of Corden's considerable acting talent, the show's dreary ideas about marriage and monogamy are not particularly original.

Jamie (Corden) and Amandine Buckingham (Melia Keriling) are having a lovely seaside holiday when they're blindsided by a medical emergency. In the foggy hours of grief that follow, Jamie discovers some naughty text messages on his wife's phone — but he hasn't the heart nor the courage to confront her until he can piece together how she betrayed him and with whom. For that, he'll need the help of his best friend/brother-in-law, Jeff (Colin Morgan), whose own wife, Lue (Sally Hawkins), has been acting awfully distant herself lately.

James Corden (Jamie Buckingham), Melia Kreiling (Amandine Buckingham) - Mammals
James Corden (Jamie Buckingham), Melia Kreiling (Amandine Buckingham) - Mammals

Luke Varley/Amazon Studios James Corden and Melia Kreiling in 'Mammals'

At just six half-hour episodes, Mammals is a brief binge that nonetheless drags at times. As Amandine continues to make questionable choices, including quitting her job to study violin with a handsome instructor (Samuel Anderson), Jamie remains maddeningly mum about her extracurriculars for longer than expected. Perhaps showrunner Jez Butterworth wants to undercut our sympathy for his cuckolded protagonist, but Jamie's inaction is just one of several odd story choices. Poor Hawkins spends most of her screen time on a narrative island of her own, as Lue becomes fascinated to the point of obsession with the life of Coco Chanel.

Meanwhile, blue whales keep popping up with the insistence of metaphor at key moments in Jamie and Amandine's relationship. Whales are mammals, and Mammals likes to remind us that we bipeds belong to that class as well. "With mammals, if they aren't thirsty, hungry, in danger, or in pain, they can technically be described as happy," notes Jeff, who is both a professor of veterinary neurology and a man who can technically be described as married. Tom Jones, Moby Dick, the frustrating request to define something complicated in three words or less — Mammals tosses motifs into the air like rice at a wedding, not always caring where or if they land.

In fairness, answers do emerge eventually, with Butterworth pulling back to reveal a web of connected plot threads — but not all the ends justify the meandering means. Kreiling is sufficiently inscrutable as Amandine, one of those gorgeous, stubbornly mysterious seductresses that screenwriters can't seem to resist. Jamie is the kind of cuddly everybloke Corden excels at, though the comedian also exposes the core of his character's heartbreak with intriguing intensity. Alas, by the final half hour, there is little sympathy to go around for Jamie or any of the primary mammals in Mammals. All the series knows for sure is that monogamy is like an egg-yolk omelet: Easy to demand, but nearly impossible to execute properly. Grade: B-

Mammals premieres Friday, Nov. 11 on Amazon Prime Video.

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