Last year we were able to enjoy a gem called ‘Pam & Tommy’, a miniseries that told us about the scandal of the video sex tape of the sex symbol Pamela Anderson. A few months later (somewhat more in our country), we have a new limited series based on real events written by Robert Siegel, its creator. Unfortunately it’s not up to it.
I’m talking about ‘Welcome to Chippendales‘ (Welcome to Chippendales), a Disney+ series that takes us through the story of Somen “Steve” Barnejee, the entrepreneur who founded the first male striptease show dedicated to women back in the 1970s. A club marred by a black record (murders, fires…) ordered by its ambitious owner.
Starring kumail nanjianiwhom we last saw in ‘Obi Wan Kenobi’, the eight episodes of the series take us through the creation and rise of the place and the strategies as ambitious as criminal and how all that collapsed due to their practices.
Of American dreams and great bodies
It’s funny how there’s true tema in the air that they never stop playing in the series and it is how it goes from an idea of elegance (a backgammon club) to something much more tacky, to put it in a way. This also translates into the staging. This isn’t ‘Magic Mike’ (fortunately not ‘Toy Boy’ either) and aside from muscular bodies dancing, there’s hardly any provocation, with the dance scenes being a bit colder than one might expect.
This is a problem endemic to the series. That beyond the appearances and sordidness that all true crime has is diluted in a script that is, in general, quite vague. Yes, we can say that it is effective, given its lightness, but there is hardly any reflection or deepening throughout its episodes.
Beyond the script, what perhaps makes ‘Welcome to Chippendales’ lose integers is the static interpretation of Barnejee. There I do not know if it is more the fault of a somewhat static Nanjiani or a characterization of the character that is not so solid as to bring out interesting and appealing nuances for the viewer.
Thus, the series portrays the protagonist little more than a child in the body of an adult, who does not know how to manage frustration or his own excessive ambition. This affects a lot when it comes to topics such as, for example, racism and discrimination (they won’t let me in a restaurant, I’m going to create a VIP program to prevent blacks from entering).
Fortunately, we have the great Murray Bartlett (one of the revelations of ‘The White Lotus’) as the vivacious Nic De Noia, the choreographer of the show with whom a great rivalry arises, to make up for it a bit. Also the always earthquake juliette lewis It helps to energize the series by being a scene stealer.
Although I have to admit that the miniseries is getting better in its second half, it’s disappointing how slightly wasted the (very good) wickers that make up ‘Welcome to Chippendales’, which stays in a light entertainmentwith occasional flashes but not quite taking off as meteorically as the starting club did.