Sebastian Stan | Screenlife Reviews

You might not be too familiar with the story of Pam and Tommy. Sure, you’ve probably heard at some point about the Baywatch star or her Motley Cruë drummer husband, but – for those not ingratiated in 90’s pop-culture – the tale of their infamous sex-tape and its effect on modern culture might not be as well known. And as a fun retelling of that inherently weird and whacky story, show-runner Robert Siegel and his gang of top-tier directors (Craig Gillespie, Lake Bell, Gwyneth Horder-Payton & Hannah Fidell) deliver in almost every way, capitalising on phenomenal performances from series leads Sebastian Stan and a transformed Lily James. It is only when Pam and Tommy tries to move beyond the fun that it falters; its attempts to go deeper into the psyches of its leads never feeling like they coalesce into anything other than a messy jumble of admittedly well-intentioned ideas.

After a whirlwind romance and impromptu proposal abroad, Tommy Lee (Stan) and Pamela Anderson (James) suddenly find themselves back in the States, newly married and committed to starting a new life together in Tommy’s Californian mansion. When contractor Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen) is wrongly fired by Tommy – who refuses to pay the man for renovation work he has already completed – he becomes enraged, breaking into the mansion late one night and making off with a safe full of valuables. Perhaps the most valuable of these items is a sex-tape made by the newlyweds on their honeymoon; the possession of which triggers an idea in Rand to release the tape to the world and make back the money owed to him tenfold. As the production of the tape begins to snowball beyond Rand’s control, it drives a wedge into Pamela and Tommy’s burgeoning marriage; with each at a different point in their career and affected by the tape in vastly different ways.

On the surface level, Pam and Tommy operates as a fairly straightforward recounting of the story of the sex tape’s theft and subsequent explosion in popularity, leading to what many believe is the rise of internet pornography. It’s a wise decision considering how unbelievable the story already is, made even more so by the larger than life way these characters operate in the real world. Tommy is the perfect example of this and Sebastian Stan delivers a surprisingly endearing portrayal of someone so deeply flawed as to fire workers after weeks of work and then refuse to pay them a dime. The show posits that there is a decent person buried deep beneath all the crazy antics and Stan is able to draw this out in the quieter moments with Pamela in the tender way he approaches and looks at her. Tommy is also where the show is able to have the most fun, shifting into the utterly fantastical in a hilarious scene where Tommy is given a pep talk by… his penis. It’s a brilliant deconstruction of the way Tommy views himself as the biggest man in every room despite his many flaws and is the rare below-the-surface moment that actually works in adding more to a character.

For the most part, these attempt to go deeper into Pam and Tommy’s psyches fall short. Pamela’s arc in particular is primed to get under the skin of an actress that could have been so much bigger if the circumstances were different, but every time the show delivers a powerful scene for Pam, it is almost always undercut by a decision to pivot away from her entirely. One particularly powerful scene taking place at a traffic intersection is the exception here – James is continuously excellent as the Baywatch star, mimicking everything from her physicality right down to vocal cues flawlessly – but this is a stark contrast against all the meaningless backstory of Anderson’s famous flop Barbarella. You get the sense that despite the excellent performances from James and Stan and all the absolutely amazing prosthetics and make-up work that has gone into transforming them, Siegel doesn’t have total faith in this story being enough to carry the series.

In fact the opening episode barely features the duo at all, honing in on Rogen’s disgruntled worker for almost the entire run-time and cutting back to his moral dilemma far too often throughout the series. For his part Rogen is excellent in conveying Rand’s torn conscience and his interactions with Nick Offerman’s hilariously grimy porn producer are consistently hilarious, but for a show named after its titular pairing, Pam and Tommy seems hard-pressed to create much more out of this narrative at times. The inference that this whole endeavour was the start of the internet pornography boom is an interesting side-story sure, but feels like such a distraction that you begin to think the show has run out of steam long before its end, and like Pam and Tommy’s marriage, is just treading water until it is all over.

Pam and Tommy is a breezy trip through 90’s nostalgia anchored by two incredible performances from Sebastian Stan and Lily James that bring these larger-than-life personalities to the screen in a way we have never seen before. It gets bogged down in the specifics of its story and side-characters a little too often – distracting from the central duo in the process – but its light tone and kinetic pacing make for an always enjoyable, if inconsistent watch. Let this be a lesson to anyone out there thinking of short-changing Seth Rogen.

Pam and Tommy stars Sebastian Stan, Lily James, Seth Rogen, Taylor Schilling, Fred Hechinger, Paul Ben-Victor, Andrew Dice Clay & Nick Offerman – Streaming on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in Australia now.

7/10

On paper the cast of Antonio Campos’ new film The Devil All the Time is a slam dunk. A who’s who of up and coming talent and recently established superstars alike featuring Spider-Man himself Tom Holland in the lead, surrounded by Robert Pattinson, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen and Bill Skarsgard. The ridiculousness of the cast is understandable when you realise it’s a Netflix production, who can’t resist splashing their cash around these days, yet it can’t be understated when the performances within are as good as they are here. Performances alone don’t make a film work however, and The Devil All the Time is a prime example of how elements of a novel don’t necessarily translate to the movies, undermining the excellent work of the cast by attempting to cram too much into an already complex film and relying on narration instead of its actors to tell the story.

Let’s start with the main character here, who oddly enough is never actually on screen: the narrator and author of the original book Donald Ray Pollock. It is barely an exaggeration to say that his voice is heard on-screen more than any of the actors, with his husky Southern drawl explaining just about every plot development in the film. Granted this is a fairly complex film with an ensemble of characters and various interweaving storylines, but if your story doesn’t work without the need to explain each and every scene, then maybe you should take another look at the screenplay. Explaining someone’s emotions right before the moment of death is never going to be as engaging as simply watching the actor express those emotions through their movements and facial expression and the narration puts the audience on the outside, never allowing for any interpretation of a scene because everything is unpacked and told directly to you. It’s a strange device that seems to show Pollock’s overprotectiveness over his work and distrust in the actors, made even more annoying by the fact that majority of the things he is describing are being portrayed excellently by the A-list cast.

Performance wise this is a masterclass in dramatic character acting, with every actor fully committing to their character and the embodiment of some sort of evil. The Devil All the Time is a story about truly horrific people. This is not an easy watch in any sense of the word but it is a fascinating one that digs into the depths of human depravity and the manipulation of others through social constructs like gender roles and religion. While it won’t be for everyone, those that stick it out will be rewarded with a rich exploration of the violence of the human condition. Tom Holland leads the ensemble as Arvin, the son of tormented and fervently religious World War II veteran Willard (Bill Skarsgard), whose traumatic upbringing has left him a hardened, good intentioned man with an unwanted penchant for violence. Arvin’s desire to protect those around him, particularly adopted sister Lenora (Eliza Scanlen), inadvertently puts him on a collision course with a host of despicable people including depraved pastor Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson), husband and wife serial killers Carl (Jason Clarke) and Sandy (Riley Keough) and Sandy’s corrupt lawman brother Deputy Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan).

Everyone in this West Virginian backwoods town is damaged and has been broken in some way by the world around them, giving Arvin’s character an almost anti-hero quality; he is not above these people but simply desires to leave this place and ensure those he loves are looked after. The violence is simply a bi-product of his desire to do good and Holland does an amazing job of portraying this internal struggle in Arvin. It may seem almost impossible to separate the young actor from his role as Spider-Man but Holland manages to shift your perspective, with his Southern drawl and calm and measured demeanour. It is a risky move on Holland’s part but one that definitely pays off and shows his outstanding range as one of Britain’s brightest young talents.

That inherent goodness cannot be applied to the other members of the cast however, with Robert Pattinson almost stealing the entire film as the mesmerising Pastor who has hoodwinked the town into worshipping him as their connection to God, all the while lying to them and wreaking havoc on young girls around town. He is a character you absolutely loathe and it is a testament to Pattinson’s performance that he draws this kind of emotional response from the audience. His monologue about people’s “delusions” leading them to sin is truly spellbinding and will have you glued to the screen as you realise how well this man can twist the townspeople into accepting his word as the truth.

As is the case with any film of this nature with multiple storylines, there are those that simply aren’t as engaging as the others. The serial killer storyline seems to plod along as a sidepiece with no real relevance, apart from an early interaction with a key player, ultimately falling flat and failing to carry as much impact as it should. By far the least interesting however, is that of Deputy Bodecker. Sebastian Stan is great in the role, transforming himself into the grimy overweight policeman in debt to the mob and working as an enforcer while he polices, but ultimately his storyline just does not really matter. His place in Arvin’s narrative is never really solidified and ultimately doesn’t carry the weight that the film thinks it does, leading to something of an anticlimactic finale that doesn’t quite reach the dramatic highs that have come before.

The Devil All the Time is one of the most bold and risky films that Netflix has put out; a dark and violent exploration of the depravity that the human condition can extend to. While its subject matter certainly won’t appeal to a broad audience and the constant narration can be incredibly annoying, the excellence of the A-list cast’s performances cannot be overstated, with Holland and Pattinson in particular delivering awards worthy turns. This isn’t a casual watch by any means but if you find yourself in the mood for a good drama and something that will make you think then give The Devil All the Time a chance. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for almost a month and the more I do the more I am convinced that this is one of the best films of 2020.

The Devil All the Time stars Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Eliza Scanlen, Haley Bennett, Mia Wasikowska, Harry Melling, Donald Ray Pollock and Bill Skarsgard – Streaming on Netflix now.