Most critics like Ozark, and the praise gathers around two things: the plotting and the leads. The reviews describe a tightly sprung thriller that is hard to stop watching, with menace simmering under the lakeside scenery. Jason Bateman’s quick-thinking money launderer is widely admired, and Laura Linney gets her share. The one name almost everyone mentions, admirers and doubters alike, is Julia Garner, whose Ruth is repeatedly singled out as the character who stands apart from the rest.
The reservations are consistent. Breaking Bad comes up in nearly every review, and for the sceptics the resemblance is the problem: a familiar story of a decent man doing bad things, told in a dour, self-serious tone that some find monotonous. The AV Club finds the central performances uninteresting, and The Times goes further, calling the series ridiculous and unbelievable. The spread is wide, from raves to outright dismissal, though the doubters are outnumbered three to one.