- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Dec 10, 2024
Critic Reviews
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Netflix has done some radical things with the stand-up format before; Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette” comes to mind. Though ultimately celebratory and life-affirming, “What Had Happened Was …” is no less groundbreaking. It’s the story of a life, one that was almost lost, told in 60 minutes of laughter, terror and love.
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In a little over an hour, Foxx reminds us that he’s a natural raconteur, a brilliant mimic (he kills with impersonations of Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington, Katt Williams and Donald Trump, among others), and a talented musician whose voice sounds stronger than ever.
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His most amusing moments involve his gift for impressions. .... But this isn’t a stand-up special so much as a celebration, an act of gratitude and the kind of emotive video often posted on Instagram.
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Although there are laughs to be had in this hour-plus, this is as much church revival as it is comedy special.
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I was hoping he might go further — who is he if he isn’t Jamie Foxx, the performer he was before the stroke? — but the special builds to a triumphant, almost tidy ending and perhaps his dark-of-the-night anxieties don’t fit into that framework. This is still all so fresh, understandably. Maybe it’s too soon for Foxx to expand his material outside his own experience to offer broader, more nuanced insights. He’s always been a topnotch raconteur and his impressions remain bar none.