When I read that one of my fellow reviewers called this a "documentary," I spent a few minutes staring out the window to mourn the death of a country so overrun with craziness that young people can no longer distinguish "reality" from "satire." I didn't blame the person who wrote the review. I blamed a country so out of its mind that it elected a president who tried to destroy documents by flushing them down the toilet while living in a White House with fourteen fireplaces.
We don't have to be this dumb, people.
Meanwhile, this series satirizes the theft and distribution of a sex tape between Bay Watch star Pamela Anderson and Motley Cru drummer Tommy Lee. Lily James and Sebastian Stan star as the lovebirds, and, although James gives Anderson wide-eyed dignity, Stan is so in on the joke. He plays Tommy as stoned into dangerous stupidity, but in love with Pam.
Seth Rogan turns Rand Gauthier , the hapless carpenter who stole the tape, into exactly the kind of guy who is proud of being a former porn star, even though his fame was having equipment small enough to specialize in anal. Nick Offerman plays Uncle Miltie, the poor man's Hugh Hefner who enjoys spending time with the actresses in the porn he produces in the Valley.
The series itself is a dirty little valentine to the era just before the internet exploded and changed everyone's lives. It concentrates on the seediness of the porn industry in the San Fernando Valley, the way video tapes were openly copied and sold with no regard to the cost of making them, and the insane amount of wealth someone can have from playing a set of drums. It is a tongue in cheek snapshot of celebrity before the Kardashians, streaming televisión and online life.
However, it would be a lot more fun had Pam and Tommy given their permission for the world to watch them having sex. They didn't. How that affected them is made pretty evident by the way the two of them reacted to the series. Tommy gave his enthusiastic approval of the project and loved Stan's portrayal of him. Pam wanted nothing to do with it, and wouldn't return phone calls from the producers or the actress who played her. She still felt humiliated by the whole thing,
Yes, Pam had done several Playboy spreads, starred in films and tv shows where she mostly showed off her body, and married a rock star. However, she GAVE HER PERMISSION to be photographed and filmed. She did not give her permission to be filmed having sex with her husband. She didn't want anyone to see that video, which is why it was kept in a locked safe.
And what happened afterward? Tommy got reality series and Pam never got much more work than Baywatch. Their children can see the film.
I haven't seen the end of the series, but I hope it is handled in a way that addresses the misery it caused Pam. I like Lake Bell, and I hope it does.
