X
- Peacock
- May 19, 2022
- Peacock
- May 19, 2022
Summary The limited series about the life of Angelyne (Emmy Rossum), who in the 1980s placed billboards of herself around Los Angeles.
Created By: Nancy Oliver
- Peacock
- May 19, 2022
- Peacock
- May 19, 2022
Angelyne
Season 1
Season Premiere: May 19, 2022
74
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary The limited series about the life of Angelyne (Emmy Rossum), who in the 1980s placed billboards of herself around Los Angeles.
Created By: Nancy Oliver
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
View All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
74
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
27% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
74
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
27% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
In the end, scene by scene, tête-à-tête by tête-à-tête, rumor by rumor, the show makes that enigmatic face on billboards about as fully realized as you could hope.
“Back then, you could still disappear or reappear as someone else. You can’t really do that anymore,” Glaser says in one of the series’ more meta lines. But in its thorough, thoughtful depiction of how Angelyne collapsed the illusory boundary between secrecy and sincerity, the miniseries provides both the woman and the icon the freedom to do just that.
What Angelyne lacks in precision it makes up for in spirit. There's an endearing level of protectiveness in Rossum's performance, and indeed the entire production. Angelyne is funny, but Angelyne is never the butt of the joke. Nor is her perpetual acolyte Krause, who Linklater brings to life with a striking blend of humor and pathos.
Angelyne plays with reality in a way that’s fun and somehow never frustrating. We don’t quite ever know which bit is the truth, but Angelyne has no intention of truth. It just wants to be as surreal and enigmatic as its mysterious subject was in real life.
If you’re a fan of flashy hilarity than “Angelyne” is for you. The series captures a camp quality and Rossum is utterly captivating. She finds the nuance in a character whose an icon, even if it’s just in her own mind.
While it is on balance a celebration (otherwise, what would be the point?), there is a respectable attempt to express the essential, if not always the actual, truth of the matter. The effect is a little schizoid, however, and it’s hard to know how to take the series at first, what’s meant to be funny ha-ha and what’s meant to be funny strange.
The cleverness of Angelyne comes and goes and its intellectual points range from perceptive to half-baked in what ultimately feels like a Charlie Kaufman-lite feature film stretched — thankfully only to five hours — by the demands of streaming television.
User Reviews
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.