Tuesday 15 January 2019

Film: 'Stan and Ollie'

I'm not sure if you have to be a fan of Laurel and Hardy to appreciate this film fully but I'm certain that it helps. I must have been into my 40s when the penny finally dropped and since then I've found their films just about the funniest ever caught on celluloid, repaying repeated viewings.

This is a labour of love and respect towards the incomparable duo, covering a late stage of their career which has been little documented, on what turned out to be their final live tour of all, through Great Britain and Ireland in 1953, 16 years after the height of their popularity (making 'Way Out West' in Hollywood) and now, in an attempt to revive their fading careers, initially playing to sparse audiences in small English and Scottish venues, though this somewhat improves later. The impetus for their tour is to help finance a projected film of theirs on Robin Hood. (Writer Jeff Pope plays fast and loose with the facts here, but it does give the film a purposeful framework). 

The transformations of Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly into the pair is beyond remarkable, and through them credibly carries the whole film.

There are flawless re-creations of some of the double act's most famous encounters on film, now replayed on stage, yet beneath the laughs there's a very evident layer of melancholy, even sombreness, which actually pervades the entire film.  
The friendship between L & H has become frayed at the edges, perhaps with over-familiarity, resulting in regular bickering, though one never loses sight of the recognition that they will always need each another, and they know it.
Their wives (Nina Arianda as Mrs L; Shirley Henderson, Mrs H) come over from America to support them and, though they are loving enough to their respective spouses in expected fashion neither seem particularly enthusiastic towards their husbands' efforts.  

It's a strong script (by the aforementioned Jeff Pope - book by A.J.Marriott) and direction by the Scottish John S.Baird is exemplary with no flagging or excess fat, coming in at a satisfyingly concise 97 mins.
Among the many locations is a five-minute scene in my current home town, Worthing (a beauty contest in the Lido), actually shot here on the seafront, this town's name being mentioned twice!

Watching the film was a bitter-sweet experience, perhaps with fewer laughs than I'd been expecting, but that's because it was so effective in depicting the pain beneath surface.

I liked this as much as I'd hoped I would, despite not having expected it to have been as dark as it was. The film's title gives no clue as to this angle being taken but it is a worthy contribution towards the duo's history on a little regarded stage of their careers - and it does them credit..................7.5.  






22 comments:

  1. I'd seen the trailer for this and thought I might like to see it. I'll have to watch and see if it comes in our area.

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    1. If you're a fan of L & H this film is a 'must', Sadie. And if you're not but know at least a little about them it should pay you dividends.

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  2. I have fond childhood memories of old L&H reruns on the BBC kids programmes
    Looking forward to see this and have already booked my ticket

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    1. With its serious undercurrent, if you don't go expecting to laugh your head off, JayGee, you're sure to like it. I really hope you'll share my admiration.

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  3. I really want to see this one. I'm a huge L&H fan!

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    1. Liking them ought to help with your appreciation of this unusual perspective, Bob. You still need to go with an open mind, though, and if you do you ought to see the big heart the film has.

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  4. this film will probably be in our local theater next month. RTG and I want to go; he is the L&H fan.

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    1. Hope you like it more than you did the Mary Poppins, W.Q. - and I hope that RTG will like it AS much.

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  5. I know I've been to a LOT of movies in the last three weeks, but I've seen the trailer each and every time. At first I was interested, but it's waned. This might make me consider it.

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    1. It's a different view of the two from what one might have expected from its rather bland title, B. The impersonations of the pair by Coogan and Reilly are simply uncanny and that alone is a good enough reason for making the effort to see this.

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  6. I AM a fan and I would love to see this. Will be in the States next month. Maybe I'll see some of the films you've recently written about. (We'll be in Vegas and it will be cheaper than the casinos!)

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    1. I hope you catch this, Mitch, and as you are also a fan it's an obligatory watch. Only be prepared for it not to be a bundle of laughs.

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  7. I have seen the trailer several times. I may see it if I have time. Thank you for the review which I have not read but did see your mark.

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    1. I suspect you may not be of my mind on this film, Rachel, but who knows? The trailer may have given the impression that it's funnier than it actually is though, in my view, not to its detriment.

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    2. If I go to see it I am not expecting it to be funny. The trailer did not come across to me as funny at all. All full of angst and undercurrents.

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    3. You've homed in on exactly what the film is, Rachel, so all the better for your forthcoming experience - IF you go!

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  8. As a student I was a 'Deck Chair Person' on the beach at Worthing; we were based in the Lido. Another year I was ASM on the Pier, with a show called Fol-de-Rols with Sandy Powell. I must have missed Stan and Ollie.

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    1. Now that really is MOST interesting, C.M. I'll remember it next time I walk past the Lido, which is fairly regularly.
      I recall back in the 1950s and 60s a stage act called the 'Fol-de-Rols who did things like dancing about with just faces and hands visible, seemingly detached from the rest of their bodies covered in black and in shadow. I wonder if this was the same act as you experienced.
      I remember the name Sandy Powell but just had to Goggle it to remind me of who he was - presumably you're referring to the comedian rather than the female costume designer - and even with the prompter is he's very vague in my mind.
      Pity you missed L & H but I think it was only a stay in Worthing for a day, or two at most.

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  9. I adored the movie.
    The chemistry and affection between the two leads had me sobbing

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    1. It's something really special, isn't it? I liked that the melancholic final tour of their lives had a film devoted to it at all, something never done before, surely, and it was brought off to perfection, with the impersonations of the two leads beyond extraordinary. I'm very contented to hear that you liked it as much as I did.

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  10. It is well talked about here in the southwest.

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