Pam & Tommyhas a great story to tell, and it almost does.
She’s aPlayboysex symbol andBaywatchstar with a new movie and a new marriage.
They are ’90s gods approaching a hell millennium.
Sebastian Stan and Lily James as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in ‘Pam & Tommy’.Erin Simkin/Hulu
“There are so many angles to it!”
one character actually says.
“Technology, celebrity, privacy!”
Bad dialogue, good point.
And Stan is…okay, I guess?
His impersonation is more haircut than heart, though, and the whole& Tommyportion ofPamis surface-level.
Meanwhile, Rogen does the whole comedian-goes-serious thing where his only visible emotion is confusion.
Rand is the focal character in the premiere, and it’s a pitiable portrait.
When he steals Tommy Lee’s safe, it’s almost a righteous act of showbiz class warfare.
His famous victims have it all, and then some.
If you want the nostalgia carnival, episode 2 will do it for you.
and not get married.
(“Denise F–ing Richards?
You saw her scoping you out at the Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion!")
The Rand subplot unfolds with purposefully comedic excess.
Various dudes-doing-crime montages ensue.
Who wants to watch a web of lawsuits?
Bring on the needle drops and Offerman going allScarface!
The middle episodes zero in on her struggles and are notably shorter, with less contrivances.
But you’re convinced by James' pain, and her bafflement.
She seems to be inventing internet paranoia, the fear of a great all-seeing world-eye invading your defenses.
It’s a gendered violation that Tommy can’t be bothered to understand.
Even at its best, though,Pam & Tommyis a bit soft on the details.
A heavenly depiction of the Playboy Mansion comes off rather shallow, not to mentionpoorly-timed.
There’s something outright gutless in the fairy-tale vision of the central relationship.
