Mad Men

a kate west review

AMC's hit new show "Mad Men" dazzles audiences with its vibrantly realistic depiction of 1960's cutthroat advertising world on Madison Avenue. The company in question, Sterling-Cooper, takes heavyweight clients, like airlines, to new heights, so to speak, with clever ad campaigns. Gorgeously fun retro sets and costumes balance out the darker sexist/racist world of male salesmanship. Everyone smokes and drinks heavily and nothing is ever politically correct. Pure delight. After a few episodes of the new sensation, however, things get a bit repetitive.

Jon Hamm is Don Drake, the main character, cheating on his wife and trying to work his way up the corporate ladder. The rest of the staff are more or less of the same moral fiber - most of them are materialistic, concerned only with appearances and everyone wants to be the big wig. The danger in portraying unsympathetic characters is that after a while, you stop caring about what happens to them, even watching their just downfalls.

Still, the actors are quite strong, and the peek into an era gone by quite fascinating. So it’s good for a least one season. Give it a try and if you grew up then, you'll find the no-holds-barred nostalgic reminiscing oddly comforting. That's the way it was, folks.

Created by
Matthew Weiner

Starring
Jon Hamm
Elisabeth Moss
Vincent Kartheiser
January Jones
Christina Hendricks
Bryan Batt
Michael Gladis
Aaron Staton
Rich Sommer
John Slattery
Mark Moses


Get it on DVD:
Mad Men - Season One