Laurel and Hardy -- the world's greatest comedy team -- face an uncertain future as their golden era of Hollywood films remain long behind them. Diminished by age, the duo set out to reconnect with their adoring fans by touring variety halls in Britain in 1953. The shows become an instant hit, but Stan and Ollie can't quite shake the past as long-buried tension and Hardy's failing health start to threaten their precious partnership.
Laurel and Hardy are arguably two of the best known comedians in history and whether you know them from your Granddad's collection of old and dusty DVDs, or you are old enough to have experienced their performances then you will know how popular and entertaining they were. This film essentially stripped back all of that and focused on who they were as people both on and off the stage. Films that reveal the private lives of popular celebrities can usually be very hit or miss, but this film really tries hard to offer something new to the table and is definitely rewarded by its large popularity and viewing figures, even on a Sunday evening! The question that needs to be asked though, is this purely a slapstick film that ends up with a slap to the face, or is it comedy genius? Here are my thoughts.
The beginning of any film is crucial, it establishes the mood and characters within a film and is always crucial to its success. The start of Stan and Ollie introduced not only the duo very nicely but also their lives, the world they lived in and the relationships that they shared with each other and the people around them in a really clever way. By showing us a brief introduction to them through using text at the start, it established the characters, the time zone and their lives briefly but this was enough to help give us the context required to understand the film. Arguably my favourite element of this film started from the very beginning, right from the start we were shown a really genuine and believable friendship and relationship between the two characters, not only did the film establish them as characters well but it also established their relationship and the roles they had well too both individually and as a duo. This linked in really nicely to the theme of their comedy shows too and this genuine feeling was a key element in the success and entertaining nature of the film. It simply kept building and really had a positive effect of getting the audience to really feel something and believe what was going on during the different scenes. Not only were these character relationships realistic though, but they were also really entertaining. Throughout the film, there were plenty of scenes that were genuinely funny and enjoyable and the best part about this was that the jokes and acts weren't just entertaining for older audiences but also younger audiences (like myself) who aren't as familiar with the duo. There were many scenes which got laughs from the audience and helped to keep the film entertaining and interesting too, these jokes and gags were real ones from Laurel and Hardy which made them even better and they were executed perfectly! As the film went on it continued to tighten its grip on us as an audience, by showing us a comparison of large audiences to shows with empty seats it gave us a powerful explanation and imagery of their downfall and decline in the business. It wasn't difficult to get these vibes because they were so easily presented to us and seeing how their relationship developed and adapted throughout this just seemed to strengthen the genuine nature of the films cast even more. This was supported though by the funny general acting which actually helped to make the characters genuinely funny, like I said, many of the acts they did and gags got real laughs from us.
Another factor I liked about the film was how emotions were conveyed to us as an audience, sometimes subtly and sometimes clearly. For example when their shows became less popular we learnt that despite their small audiences, they were loyal to the duo and represented audiences that were older and possibly 'out of touch' with the current comedy and media trends of that time. But it also helped to strengthen the characters by portraying them as real showmen and that's another key element of the film I really liked. Not only did the film just inform us about their lives but it gave us a real and down to Earth perception of them, and how their lives were devoted to each other and to comedy. The emotional impact of the film was surprising however, the variety of emotions (humour, sadness and surprise) were all really effectively executed, for example during arguments and the heart attack scene the film really effectively and powerfully portrayed the theme of sadness and the strength of their friendship which was really effective to us as an audience. As well as humour and surprise which were also key emotions portrayed, despite their contrasts, the film picked and chose the lengths and depths of these emotions to portray really well. The humour was very clever and effective to us, but also the sadness and shock were too and the film did this really nicely which had a positive and compelling effect on us as an audience. The film really did interact with us as an audience really nicely, the emotional scenes were executed very well which meant that when scenes used humour then the audience found them funny because we saw the impact it had on Laurel and Hardy, but during other emotions then the audience really strongly felt these emotions. Again, supported by the genuine and realistic feeling to the characters and relationships in the film. This was supported by a clear and strong plot too, it kept the audience on the path to follow throughout the film but it also allowed us to take small detours and explore the interpret the film in a variety of different ways in a subtle manner, through simple lines of dialogue and actions. The plot idea though was strong, it may not appear very meaty at first glance but the film manages to entertain and really take you on a great experience nonetheless. The plot had key twists and turns in it to which kept us interested and engaged with the film, for example the arguments and cracks in their friendship were really well portrayed and felt powerful to us because of how strongly the film had worked to establish their relationship and friendship. Their fights were really realistic too, using a good range of dialogue to express their emotions in a unique way, it also helps to personify their underlying friendship, even through the arguments and falling out. There were lots of good and funny scenes, but the mixture of these with powerful and serious scenes (such as the argument and their final performance) really helped to give the film a variety and that's really what I liked about this film.
I feel that the actor choices for this film are perfect, they really seemed to excel in their roles which not only left them looking like the duo but also acting like them and making audiences laugh as they did too. The actors made the film enjoyable, sad but best of all, genuine and realistic. Then the film ended in a perfect way, by giving us a summary of their lives and what happened to the duo after their last performance, it was a really touching ending and ironically actually made the ending of a film about a funny duo quite sad. Overall though, it was a really fun and enjoyable movie, made better by the great acting and strong and genuine character relationships.
There were a few bumps in the ride of this film though unfortunately. Some of the characters such as their manager didn't really feel like they were introduced to us very well, which left them with a really mysterious and confusing attitude throughout the rest of the film. Understandably the main characters were Laurel and Hardy, as well as their wives but it just felt like some other characters didn't have a key role which left them feeling unimportant and in the shadows. I also understand that showing their decline and rise again in a difficult time of their career made for a good story but it would have been really nice to have seen much more of them in their prime, during their biggest performances and even if they were only a few more scenes and performances then it would have really strongly shown their fall from grace and the disinterest in their sector of media.
Like I said, I haven't really seen much of Laurel and Hardy's work but even so I really enjoyed the film and found it funny, however I still feel that there were a few parts to the film that required more knowledge and experience with them to fully appreciate. It's not necessarily a weakness because it increases audiences interest but I missed a few gags that I found others laughing hysterically at due to my lack of knowledge in their performances. If I'm honest, I couldn't really come up with any more negatives without being seriously picky!
Overall, I would give this film a 9. I found it to be really entertaining and gripping and I really feel that the short length of the film was key into keeping the film from not going over the top and stretched out,. But the character relationships in this film felt really genuine and the acting and character models were amazing and really gave each of them a purpose and unique personality which helped them to stand out. But I also enjoyed the humour and variety of emotions, yes it was based on a comedy duo but the other emotions were seriously powerful and extremely well presented to the audience which meant that there weren't really any scenes that were boring or unnecessary. Of course it wasn't perfect, there wasn't much emphasis on their prime and when they were massive in America, it also felt like to fully appreciate the film you will probably need to have watched some of their classical films too but I can't be too picky because I still found the film hilarious and really entertaining and I haven't seen any of their films! I would definitely recommend this film to all audiences, however for maximum enjoyment I would recommend reading up about the duo a little bit first to get more context to help understand and get the best out of the film. But if you're looking for a genuinely well made film with a group of award nominated actors (and rightly so!) then you can't do much better than this film in that department and you should definitely go see it. Don't be surprised if John Reilly or/and Steve Coogan win awards for their performances here!
Thank you so much for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review. I hope you have a lovely day. :)
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