Glenn Ficarra

Sterling K. Brown keeps us interested in Paradise (2025) when its mystery takes an improbable turn. We were moved by his performance because the feelings remain convincing even when the plotting strains belief. Glenn Ficarra co-directs episodes with John Requa, and the series is a useful introduction to their preference for taking flawed people seriously. It also gives us a reason to qualify our affection for Ficarra's work: the performances can persuade us to accept more than the storytelling has earned.

Ficarra and Requa came to directing through scripts including Cats & Dogs (2001) and Bad Santa (2003). Their self-written directorial debut, I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), adapted the true story of a con man, a fitting subject for filmmakers reluctant to regard their characters with contempt. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) then put their balance of humour and emotion to work in an ensemble romance.

Focus (2015), their grifter drama starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, continued the interest in deception. Their television work includes the family drama This Is Us (2016) and Paradise, both created by Dan Fogelman. Requa is central to any judgement of Ficarra, because the writing and directing partnership runs through these different kinds of story. There is little use pretending we can separate their instincts neatly when the work has been made together.

With Paradise, the qualification is substantial. The second season's loose plotting and flashbacks ask for more patience, even as the mystery remains engaging and the feelings usually land. We would not call those plotting problems harmless simply because Brown helps us through them; a series still has to make its complications worth following. Start with Paradise if performances matter as much as answers, but expect to forgive some untidy storytelling.