Working at a cinema sometimes fills me with a unique sense of despair. A lady told me the other day, 'I heard they were making that Great Gatsby into a book.' My immediate reaction was to yell 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME?' but instead I went with the sobre response 'Yeah, it might be like that one they brought out in the 1920s.' Another person felt compelled to tell me our sign for a film called 'Populaire' was spelt wrong, 'You need to get that checked.' Then, to my horror a member of staff described Behind the Candelabra to a customer as a film about someone called 'Lib-er-ace' like the ace of spades. Speaking of which, Ace of Spades totally gets shit done, like writing a blog entry... Not really, I keep getting distracted.
So Behind the Candelabra charts the love affair between Michael Douglas and Matt Damon - I never thought those two would be so compatible! Here's where it gets kind of awkward, Matt Damon plays for most of the film, a teenager, ouch, that is a stretch. Are we supposed to believe that Matt Damon is a teenager sleeping with a flamboyant pianist in the madness of the 70s? Well... It's odd, because my main issue with big actors is that their work precedes them and influences how I see them in each new role. Hence why Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt/Cloonster/Di Caprio et al, seem to have the unfortunate issue of their Hollywood personas bruising their acting roles. Don't get me wrong, they are all great actors, the best by some standards, but they have a lot of noise distorting the purity of their performances. So imagine my surprise when, not only did Matt Damon pull off the youthful role of Scott Thorson, but also, even with the horrifying facial prosthetics, managed to make me believe in the reality of the person. Also, regardless of the fact the man is clearly past the 40 benchmark, he still manages to look young and innocent, which is... Well intriguing more than anything, and his past performances don't detract from what is a jolly good crack at being a gay lover, sorry, bisexual lover of a man nearly three times his age, mistake!
Michael Douglas probably also needs a pat on the back, playing a big old queen with the gusto and exuberance that really just shines through, he looks like he's enjoying himself, and hey good for him, it shows, and it's impressive. I can't critique his performance, because there is such a knowingness and a vulnerability to him, an honesty, clearly this man has had a bizarre and incredibly unusual life going from his overbearing mother (played by Debbie Reynolds of all people!) having him play piano every day to insane superstardom, that would damage just about anyone and it's telling that the film plays out the usual gripes of the rich and famous but still manages to create something believably honest and almost touching. I do want to smack Liberace's over-surgically enhanced face several times in the film but to be honest if made me feel something. I was following the story, I felt invested in the love affair and felt genuinely saddened, elated, touched, all those feelings while watching. I don't usually feel much watching anything nowadays apart from slightly bored as I predict what's happening in front of me. Sure the story is a predictable one, relationships all go through a similar cycle, although this one had flourishes of drug addiction, plastic surgery and the fact that it's a biz called show. Everything decays and this follows suit with familiar beats but it doesn't stop it from hurting, even after how insanely emotionally attached the pair become.
The whole story is a one which is hard to believe if it weren't for the fact that for the most part it's true, there are arguments that Liberace didn't force Thorston to have plastic surgery to resemble a younger self, but the whole drugs and the purported adoption part seem to be true. These salient details all make it all the more intriguing, and darkly humorous - there is a lot of black humour in this film, that suited me just fine, I can sit and giggle away for hours at jokes that aren't particularly funny to the rest of the audience which consisted mostly of over 50s.
Behind the Candelabra does a lot of things, it juggles a biopic with some knowing humour, outrageous outfits and set pieces, with some frankly hilarious visuals. One thing I really have to point out is Rob Lowe. Godamnit man. I love you. I love you so much even with your face that way, every scene he is in just illicits laughs from the fact he literally can't move his face and people are just totally unphased. I could watch the whole damn thing again just to see Rob Lowe, in fact why aren't there more scenes with him in? Well that descended into me laughing at someone with overtly obvious plastic surgery... Why don't I just look at Joan Rivers more often?
I really can't describe this film in too much detail as I feel I have already let slip the most important aspects inadvertently... Will you like this film? (Are you there God? It's me, Nicola.) Well, do you love big old gays having a gay old time? Do you like watching intensely overdependent relationships disintegrate before your very eyes? Sure you've seen it a thousand times before, but not like this. This is something else! Plus it's a really well made film, there are visual representations of Liberace's manner with his youthful lovers as we see at the start of the film and watch as Scott falls into such patterns. As Liberace tries to free himself but control Scott as he exerts himself, as they have domestics just like real people. It's just a fascinating insight if anything, all bolstered by the excellent acting of the main players.
Obviously as a footnote to this whole adoration for the in-depth look at the relationship between Liberace and his gay lover, I feel I must stress this, it's not so much a film about Liberace as it is a film about his relationship. An old couple were intrigued by it and asked me to describe it, I told them there were a few scenes with Liberace playing piano but to be honest the core of the film was a love story. The pair rolled their eyes and sighed and seemed suddenly disinterested in this possibility, they didn't want to know about Liberace's love affairs, as discrete as they were at the time and a legacy all by themselves. It's an insight into what was going on behind closed doors but... Well, let's just say I'm not sure big fans of Liberace would particularly find themselves particularly enamoured by the direction of the film. Just a feeling more than anything, as I described the plot to two older people who clearly had a taste for Liberace they didn't seem at all impressed by it even though I was very complimentary of the film. 'Oh no, we don't want to see gay sex.' For a film about Liberace's secret private life, gay sex is a no-no. Go figure.
It's really not that often I am genuinely surprised by a film and this was a spur of the moment decision that I just walked into out of curiosity rather than interest. I think I must be in an emotional agreeable state, because I felt incredibly strongly that I liked this film upon walking out of the screen. It's not often my immediate inclination is so strong or positive, usually I'll have found a loose thread to tug on as my dissatisfaction grows - expect this to happen with Man of Steel which I intend to see in the coming week. So yeah, unexpected but extremely enjoyable, seek it out, find out for yourself.
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