The Kominsky Method is charming, droll, a little wry and a lot more heartfelt than anything Chuck Lorre has done

The Globe and Mail

The Netflix comedy starring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin "is a very different kettle of comedy," says John Doyle, who adds: "You can see why the freedom Netflix offers was, in this case, irresistible to (Lorre). It’s about older people and it deals with the consolations and tortures of getting older. And all this in the context of showbiz, L.A. and the desperation to succeed. There is no designated demographic for material of this type of comedy and that fact is also one of the underlying themes. Mostly, though, it’s just gently funny. Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin are first-rate as the main male characters in what is far from the sitcoms we’ve come to expect from Lorre. The jokes about getting old are sardonic and there’s no slapstick on the subject, with the sardonic co-existing alongside mischievous, but wise, reflections on aging."

ALSO:

• Chuck Lorre pulls off the tricky balance between sentiment and scatology, grief and goofiness
• Like Grace and Frankie, it's an amusing look at aging grudgingly, not gracefully
• The problem is Douglas and Arkin play messy, intelligent, believably flawed human beings who inhabit a world mostly populated by dumb, goofy stereotypes
• The Kominsky Method ends perfectly, and shouldn't be renewed for a second season
• Kominsky needs to dig deeper, but it ends up being a strange, slapdash show