Glamorous | Kim Cattrall must miss Samantha Jones

Poor Kim Cattrall. In the new queer comedy Glamorous from Netflix, the 66-year-old actress exudes energy from a 9V smoke detector battery that hasn’t been changed in at least 14 years.

Hidden behind huge cat-eye glasses, Kim Cattrall plays a former star model who now runs a luxury cosmetics company. You are probably thinking: girlboss fierce, fabulous attitude, snap, snap, snapMiranda Priestly in The devil wears Prada.

No way. This bland character, whose name is Madolyn with an O, yes, lacks everything. Of oumpf, of sequins, of crisp replicas, of grip, of gas and of vitality, give it its boost by Adrien Gagnon, it’s urgent.

Kim Cattrall does not even force herself to camouflage her boredom by delivering her flat replicas in a dull tone. We are light years away from the fiery Samantha Jones of Sex and the Citythe role of a liberated woman that she dropped (it was not so easy).

Actually, Glamorous suffers from the general poverty of its watered-down, cliche-filled script. And that’s really a shame. Because this series – halfway between Ugly Betty And The Bold Type – shines its spotlight on a rainbow of characters from the LGBTQ+ community and any form of visibility counts in this period when the appearance of a simple drag queen on TV triggers a parade of cuckoos on Twitter.

But OK, Glamorous, it’s not very good, it must be said, despite a lot of good intentions behind its creation. Besides our Madolyn numbed by clonazepam, the other pivotal character of the series is called Marco, he is 22 years old and he is camped by the actress Miss Benny (Love, Victor), which began its transition during the filming of the 10 episodes of Glamorousoffered in English and French.

Marco, who dreams of becoming a beauty influencer with her 327 followers, sells lipsticks and foundation at a department store in New Jersey. Hold on tight here for this hair-raising twist. In an effort to connect with her customers, a kind of field survey, Madolyn visits the cosmetics counter of the flamboyant Marco (what a coincidence!) and, time to wonder if it’s maybe Maybelline, bam, Madolyn hires Marco as a second assistant at his posh Manhattan headquarters.

Here begins for Marco the classic story of emancipation of the young gay man from the suburbs who lands in the big city. Marco knows who he is and makes no apologies for it, go Marco: he puts on pumps every day and does not leave his mother’s house (single-parent family) without his gloss.

Addicted to his iPhone, unable to read anything other than comments on the internet (a book, WTF ?) and centered on her navel exposed by her collection of crop topsMarco represents the slice of Gen Z that Y’s and X’s love to ridicule.

Marco’s superficiality and lack of depth make this character hard to like, alas. In some episodes, Marco gets downright insufferable, though we all understand the hurdles he’s had to overcome as a queer person who proudly wears women’s clothing.

For example, when a colleague asks him where he sees himself in five years, Marco rolls his eyes: “Urgh, five years is like in, like, two cycles of Lady Gaga. » Or when Marco multiplies the blunders in his first week at Madolyn’s office, he laments: « I’m planting myself like a simple Katy Perry. »

In short, Marco expresses himself in punchy clips as if he lived permanently on TikTok, yas queen, bye bitch ! We have to wait for the final scene of the last episode of Glamorous – good luck if you persevere, like me, so far – to empathize with Marco, who finally shows vulnerability.

Also, Glamorous was shot entirely in Toronto, which we made up in New York with cheap products, and it shows. We are far, far from the opulence ofAnd Just Like Thatlet’s put.

And the plot? Unlike a facial care routine, it doesn’t have multiple layers. In summary, the fate of Madolyn’s cosmetics business, which appeals mostly to older female customers, rests on the shoulders of second assistant Marco who, let’s not forget, has trouble bringing coffee orders back without spilling them. when exiting the elevator.

But how did young Marco gain the trust of ex-supermodel Madolyn so quickly? Ah ha! Marco dared to tell Madolyn that her eyeshadow palettes looked old lady. Get over it, aunt, because Marco, he knows how to embellish the outside and the inside of a person with his brushes.

Several episodes then expand on Marco’s “revolutionary” idea which will save the company from sinking and one would swear that the screenwriters of Glamorous have never seen the advertising campaigns of the cosmetics manufacturer MAC before laying their story.

At first glance (charcoal), Glamorous seduces with its shimmering and sparkling reflections. Wow, it shines! But as soon as you blow to get rid of the excess powder in the eyes, there is almost nothing left on the surface.