Stan & Ollie (Film Review)
Charming, wistful, even cozy love declaration to one of the most famous comedy double acts in movie history. To my relief, the trailer - which made it look like they'd spend much of the movie arguing - turned out to be very misleading in this regard, and used almost all the argument there is. (I'm all for argumentative relationships per se, but Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were famously harmonious bffs, which is rare in show biz in any era.) Instead, they spend the majority of the film affectionate towards each other - and not in a "vitriolic best buds" way, to be absolutely clear on this (again, I'm fond of that trope, but it wasn't theirs) - and the movie unabashedly includes the word "love" for how they see their relationship with each other (as in: "I love him", says Stan Laurel to wife No.4, Ida, about Oliver "Babe" Hardy, and he's not in a joking mood when he says that).
In terms of factualness, the movie did some distilling - their various post war theatre tours through Great Britain into the last one, in 1953, for example -, and if they had the one big argument they have in this film, we don't know about it (though what they're arguing about really happened). But since after a prologue depicting our duo at the height of their fame the entire rest of the film focuses on a few weeks in their last tour together, when they were still known but the world had moved on, it avoids that pitfall of many a biopic, hastening through edited high (and low) lights of a life without providing the audience with a good sense of why it should care about the depicted people if it doesn't already. Here, Steve Coogan as Laurel and John C. Reilly as Hardy manage a true double act, to wit, recreating the body language of their movie/stage personas (which, since they're legends, is quite a task) and while also providing them with plausible off-stage personalities. (RDJ as a young man in his breakout role as Chaplin managed that, too, but alas the movie by Attenborough was mostly very leaden and committed all those biopic mistakes this one avoids). In the genre of silent movie stars past their prime tales, this manages to be a gentle one - Laurel & Hardy aren't spared the indignity of opening in half filled theatres and being fended off on the phone by movie money men , but they still reach their audience and once word spreads, those theatres are packed again. Neither of them is Norma Desmond, and they have each other, as opposed to being alone.
The wives, notably younger (and each not the first, or even second), come across as real people, too, with acerbic wit and affection of their own. It's basically a four people story, with their British producer being an occasional fifth presence. And no, you don't need to be well versed in movie history to enjoy it (what information is needed, the movie provides), though if you are there is some icing of the cake. Just a "two life long partners in their twilight years try their art one more time and while they're at it also confront some issues previously swept under the carpet" story without a tragedy (though the final credits, detailing what happened after the movie has ended, might make you sad), and thus ideal if you're feeling currently pummelled by reality on either side of the Atlantic.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1341895.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
In terms of factualness, the movie did some distilling - their various post war theatre tours through Great Britain into the last one, in 1953, for example -, and if they had the one big argument they have in this film, we don't know about it (though what they're arguing about really happened). But since after a prologue depicting our duo at the height of their fame the entire rest of the film focuses on a few weeks in their last tour together, when they were still known but the world had moved on, it avoids that pitfall of many a biopic, hastening through edited high (and low) lights of a life without providing the audience with a good sense of why it should care about the depicted people if it doesn't already. Here, Steve Coogan as Laurel and John C. Reilly as Hardy manage a true double act, to wit, recreating the body language of their movie/stage personas (which, since they're legends, is quite a task) and while also providing them with plausible off-stage personalities. (RDJ as a young man in his breakout role as Chaplin managed that, too, but alas the movie by Attenborough was mostly very leaden and committed all those biopic mistakes this one avoids). In the genre of silent movie stars past their prime tales, this manages to be a gentle one - Laurel & Hardy aren't spared the indignity of opening in half filled theatres and being fended off on the phone by movie money men , but they still reach their audience and once word spreads, those theatres are packed again. Neither of them is Norma Desmond, and they have each other, as opposed to being alone.
The wives, notably younger (and each not the first, or even second), come across as real people, too, with acerbic wit and affection of their own. It's basically a four people story, with their British producer being an occasional fifth presence. And no, you don't need to be well versed in movie history to enjoy it (what information is needed, the movie provides), though if you are there is some icing of the cake. Just a "two life long partners in their twilight years try their art one more time and while they're at it also confront some issues previously swept under the carpet" story without a tragedy (though the final credits, detailing what happened after the movie has ended, might make you sad), and thus ideal if you're feeling currently pummelled by reality on either side of the Atlantic.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1341895.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.