‘As They Made Us’ Review: Dianna Agron’s Graceful Performance Grounds Mayim Bialik’s Debut
variety.comTomris Laffly Pretty much every family has a reliably dutiful mitigator: They are the sacrificing person to whom siblings vent when familial affairs turn sour and parents call for on-demand assistance.
Among the Frays — the family at the heart of Mayim Bialik’s soberly affecting if not a touch monotonous domestic drama “As They Made Us” — the honors belong to the selfless Abigail, portrayed by an elegantly low-key Dianna Agron (“Shiva Baby,” “Glee”).Indeed, the frantic single mother of two hyper boys and columnist for The Modern Jew drops everything and runs to help out whenever there is yet another friction at her folks’ house.
She is a certified saint and Bialik’s respectable directorial debut — loosely inspired by the former “Big Bang Theory” actress and current “Jeopardy” host’s own familial past — quickly builds a strong case for her virtuousness.
We learn that even as a child stuck with a perennially quarreling mom and dad, Abigail had a way to ease tensions and tend to the emotional needs of her brother Nathan (played by Bialik’s “Big Bang Theory” co-star Simon Helberg in adulthood).
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