![the strange story of a guy next door and a novelist the strange story of a guy next door and a novelist](https://cm.blazefast.co/c5/ef/c5efa31bee3d04202ff6a866970edcad.jpg)
It does occupy a sort of no-man’s-land between comedy and drama, being neither very funny nor very dark. It has garnered lukewarm reviews in the US, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Shrink Next Door is adapted from a hit podcast. Markowitz’s sister, Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn), is onto dodgy Dr Ike pretty quickly, but Marty won’t be told. Herschkopf spent the next 30 years ruthlessly taking advantage. It’s based on a strange-but-true story: Ferrell’s character, Marty Markowitz, who inherited a New York fabric business from his recently deceased parents, went to see psychiatrist Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf for depression, panic attacks and a lack of self-esteem. But it’s impossible to hate him because he’s played by… you get the picture. He plays a sociopathic psychiatrist and scam artist who inveigles his way into the life of a people-pleasing dupe (Will Ferrell) and steals his money, his lifestyle and his sanity. So The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV+) starts with an advantage, which is that it stars Paul Rudd. This week he was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, which prompted neither scorn nor jealousy but a happy acceptance that Paul Rudd, despite being no more conventionally attractive than at least five per cent of dads at the school gate, is absolutely deserving of this accolade. Everybody aware of the existence of Paul Rudd loves Paul Rudd. There are popular actors and then there is Paul Rudd.