Leonard & Hungry Paul Analysis: A Gentle Show Featuring the Voice of the Famous Actress Brings a Great Antidote to Modern Life

In a calm neighborhood of the Irish capital, an individual is standing outside his home, dressed in a tank top and voicing his concerns. “I notice I'm becoming more silent. More invisible,” remarks the protagonist, looking into the darkness. “One thing’s led to another and currently it seems if I don’t do something, my life will proceed in this quiet, unremarkable life.” His friend Paul, his closest companion, considers the idea. “There's no harm in that,” he responds, his bathrobe flapping with the wind. “Preferable to striving for recognition and causing harm instead.”

For those tired by the bluster and constant stimulation of modern television landscape, the show steps in similar to a foil blanket and warming mug of blackcurrant juice.

In line with its gentle leads, the series – a six-episode program created by its authors, inspired by the novelist’s subtle 2019 novel – casts a critical eye toward today's world; looking skeptically above its spectacles at anything related to loud sounds, quick actions or – perish the thought – too much drive. The series rather, a tribute to quiet people; a subtle homage of those happy to amble along below the parapet. But. The character (a further distinctly original performance from the star) feels restless. He notices a growing “urge to throw open the doors and windows in my existence … slightly.” The passing of his beloved mother has yanked the floor out from under him and this young man, a writer for others, now feels questioning the paths that directed him to where he is (single; sporting facial hair; writing multiple children’s encyclopedias for an employer who ends messages with the phrase “goodbye for now”).

Therefore Leonard starts on a journey to find happiness, with the slightly bolder friend Paul (Laurie Kynaston) acting as his close companion, mentor and ally in a recurring board games evening functioning as both symposium (“Does the pool feel warm because kids pee in it, or is it that kids pee since it's warm?”) and safe space.

(What's the origin of "Hungry" Paul? No idea. The beginning of this name appears lost in mystery. Perhaps Paul on one occasion consumed a snack in record time, or responded to an awkward situation by nervously peeling several snacks with his teeth).

Arriving in Leonard's calm existence comes a vibrant character (the actress), a new spring-loaded associate who happily suggests to eliminate Leonard’s appalling boss (Paul Reid) during the office fire drill. The rushing noise you can hear represents Leonard's calm life being turned upside down.

In other scenes in the first episode of a series not heavily plotted and more by what younger viewers might call “mood”, we meet Hungry Paul’s dad (the brilliant the actor), a battered sofa of a man who privately views, saves and reviews television game programs to amaze his loving spouse through his fact recall.

Guiding us through all this gentle kindness there is a voiceover that is unmistakably – and, indeed, very much is – Julia Roberts. Yes, Julia Roberts. Should you wonder, “surely the use of a big-name celebrity contradicts the program's low-key style and starts off as just a distraction?” you would be correct. Still, Roberts acquits herself well, and dialogue for example “Leonard’s problem is his absence of a look of sudden insight” contribute to ensuring that first reservations yield though not complete approval, then at least acceptance.

But that’s enough grumbling for now. The show's core is in the right place: the right place being “located on a seat in the company of gentle comedies, showing its favourite duck.” It’s a series that ambles along in its sleeveless jumper, sometimes gazing upward at the stars, at other times looking at its slippers, serenely certain that there is nothing on Earth as uplifting as passing time alongside dear pals.

Unlock the entryways within your world, just a bit, and welcome it inside.