Margo's Got Money Troubles

It’s an ideal adaptation and one of the year’s best shows.

These are characters for whom it’s impossible not to root. As such, Margo’s Got Money Troubles has the pleasing smack of comfort television. Curveballs are met. Disaster is dodged. An unlikely resourcefulness prevails. The internet, as Margo finds, contains multitudes. So does this.

The first episode might reel you in or feel like a slow burn (it was for this reviewer). If so, don’t give up, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” gets steadily more intriguing and pretty soon its measures of love become truly irresistible.

From its nuanced and frequently hilarious writing to its layered performances to its unique sonic and visual language, everything works together to create something special.

One of Apple TV’s best series of the year.

A star-studded, wickedly funny, sex-forward adaptation, and it’s one of the most engaging and entertaining series of the year to date.

The show has actual things to say about sex work, motherhood, economic anxiety, and found family, while also being a raucous time and a great showcase for Fanning, Nick Offerman, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nicole Kidman, among others.

It's an often funny, very good looking show with a trio of leads who make every moment look effortless. Fanning, Pfeiffer, and Offerman are excellent individually and phenomenal as a fractured family unit.

The pitch may sound like a dare, but the series keeps finding its way back to something real. That bruised warmth, more than any of its quirks, is what gives this oddball dramedy its pulse.

It could have gone bolder—it plays like Emmy bait at times—but is consistently enjoyable. And the charms of this family, who fire on all cylinders and are clad in the most retina-burning outfits, are hard to resist.

It’s hard to watch this charming, wholesome show and not support Margo’s endeavors, not weep at her family coming together to endorse her as a mother. .... Margo is well worth the subscription.

This modern musing on motherhood, dysfunctional family and doing your best is a delight — grounded by lovely chemistry between the core trio of Fanning, Pfeiffer and Offerman.

It’s the rare show that knows exactly how to take a bunch of common tropes—complicated mother–daughter relationships, the highs and lows of addiction and recovery, the harsh realities of young parenting—and turn them into something greater. Even if there isn’t anything particularly novel about Margo’s Got Money Troubles, it’s all the richer for how well it comes together

You might think that a series with Elle Fanning as an unwed mother who turns to OnlyFans to work her way through college would not be a mile of smiles, but it most definitely is.

A very Kelley piece of work: a little old-fashioned and a little newfangled, slickly entertaining, witty and casually progressive.

It is as empathetic, funny and openhearted a series about an adult performer monetizing her exposure on the internet as you might expect to see.

Nearly every episode contains fun and lighthearted moments but never strays far from a pervasive sense of melancholy. At times, especially in later episodes, the drama turns exceptionally dark. But such is real life, and the show never lets you forget that its characters are fully drawn and alive, warts and all.

It could easily have been a handwringing tale in which Margo ended up seeing the error of her ways but instead it chooses to be realistic, upbeat and bold. The result is really quite life-affirming.

Its characters are memorable, sure, and their family relationships a bit unconventional. But this is a story firmly grounded in the real world, and all the more interesting for it.

Witty and deeply heartfelt, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” distinguishes itself by the way it artfully says the quiet parts — about beauty, money and the fragile math of everyday life — out loud.

“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” manages to marry its meaning and method effectively enough to make its bubbled perspective more soothing than exasperating. Once you give in, it’s quite charming.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles has serious moments, but it’s a show that doesn’t try to take itself too seriously, and that sense of fun is going to make Margo’s journey to provide for her son very watchable.

“Margo’s Got Money Problems” can be terribly sentimental, almost corny — the climax is pure Hollywood — but undeniably effective.

The whole group makes up an eccentric but intensely believable spider's web of characters. Some situations here might feel a bit forced, but in performance, it all just works.

It’s got charm, and it’s endearing if you’re not allergic to the schmaltz just begging to break through the surface. But, with the three main talents involved, it could have been so much more.

The characters are complex, the tone warm and non-judgmental. It was adapted for TV by David E Kelley, creator of Ally McBeal and husband to Pfeiffer. If only the drama were as funny as the Rufi Thorpe novel on which it is based.

While there are many interesting characters and storylines, by the time the finale episode, “Lock and Load,” comes to an end, the luster of the series dulls considerably. In the end, it feels like a cautionary tale rather than one of triumph.