DTF St. Louis–A Bromance
This seven-episode HBOmax mini-series, DTF St. Louis, opens with St. Louis weatherman Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman of “Ozark”) covering a cyclonic storm alongside ASL interpreter, Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour of “Stranger Things”). The camera rolls as Floyd saves Clark from certain decapitation by yanking him out of the path of a flying stop sign. Soon they become BFFs. Sometimes socializing with their families, but more frequently, they are bonding at the bar, gym, and other “guy” hangouts.
However, all is not well with Floyd and his family. Due to financial debts, Carol (Linda Cardellini) has taken a part-time job as an umpire (hilariously depicted), while Floyd is deeply shamed by no longer getting sexually aroused. Once a male porn model, he thirsts for his former attractiveness. Body-shaming is usually associated with women but here we see Floyd lose his self-esteem over and over again, despite his best efforts to convince himself he is lovable.
Clark is deeply concerned with Floyd’s state of mind and wants to help. But his desire to help is complicated by his attraction to Carol., Floyd’s wife. He suggests a dating app for married couples –DTF (“Down to Fuck”). Clark persuades Floyd to try the app with him.
Floyd, a compassionate man-child, wonders if he could be more loveable by being less pathetic. So tender-hearted, he wants to please the gay men he meets on DTF, even though he is straight.
There is plenty of pathetic behaviour to go around. Later episodes reveal that the billboard-celebrity persona of Clark is also pathetic. Hidden behind the telegenic weatherman is a hollow Everyman who feels Clark’s pain as well as his own. Clark only trusts Floyd with knowing who he really is and both friends feel safe and emotionally intimate only with each other.
DTF St. Louis is ostensibly a murder mystery. (No spoiler alerts here.) An investigation by senior officer Donoghue Homer (Richard Jenkins) and newly appointed special crimes officer Jodie Plumb (Joy Sunday) leads to some unconventional detective work Plumb provides some needed humor when she coaches her elder colleague on varieties of sexual behavior he does not comprehend.
Plumb immediately senses the crime scene isn’t what it seems, sending the pair digging into the sordid saga of Clark, Floyd, and Carol.
While the viewer is expected to show interest in solving the whodunit, DTF is fundamentally a bromance touching on toxic masculinity and what happens between two straight guys who love each other in a vulnerable, nonsexual way that mainstream suburbia might consider unacceptable.
There’s not a weak link in this astounding ensemble, down to the most minor of characters. Both Jason Bateman and David Harbour–with a shout-out to Linda Cardellini–give brave career-best performances. Bateman as Everyman is a poignant, tragically lonely man who appears to have it all but feels as if he has lost everything. And Harbour as the paunchy, middle-aged male who is invisible is heart-breaking.
DTF mocks middle-aged male sexuality. Male friendship longing for the past affection of little boys’ friendships is portrayed with raw loneliness at its core. What has happened to the emotional life of male friends? Few cinematic portraits can convey with such intelligence and power, the fundamental human need for friendship.
“No one’s normal. It just looks that way from across the street.”
Availability: HBO/max (US)