"KEEP BUSTIN'."

Behind the Candelabra

tn_candelabraBEHIND THE CANDELABRA is Steve Soderbergh’s one last big score before retirement. In some countries it played in theaters, but here in his home country it went straight to cable. Why? The Man obviously didn’t get how contemporary this story is even though it takes place in the ’70s through early ’80s.

It’s about this young working class guy, animal trainer, orphan (Matt Damon, THE BOURNE IDENTITY), one day he and his buddy (Scott Bakula, COLOR OF NIGHT) hit Vegas together, turns out his buddy knows this super famous musician guy (Michael Douglas, Streets of San Francisco), they get to hang out backstage, next thing you know he gets a job with the guy, gets to be in the crew, his posse, his entourage, like in the show Entourage (I don’t know, I haven’t seen it, but I figure I got a good guess what a show called Entourage would be about).

I mean, he’s not just some roadie, he’s his #1 guy, going on stage with him, basically like his hype man, or like the guy that used to hold the umbrella for Puffy, or the guy that took off James Brown’s cape for him. Look at this shit, he drives him out on stage in a jewel-encrusted limo:

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That’s how he comes out on stage! He’s all about showmanship. His piano is blinged out too. And the titleasticle candelabra is what he has on top of his piano. A fancy set up. And he kinda dresses like Prince, actually:

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Anyway, Damon’s character Scott gets to be a part of show biz, go along for the ride and hang out, just like all these rappers getting their buddies paid, going on tour with them. It’s a great opportunity for a young man to have a fun time and live it up.

It’s about this world of glamour and materialism, he gets a Camaro and a bunch of fancier cars, his own place with a pool and shit, and drugs.

This piano player guy Lee Liberace, he’s practically Scarface, he pulled himself up from the streets, playing saloons, proving himself, building this empire. He’s what modern society calls a total pimp. He drives around in these cars, he has his name on everything. Fur coats, diamond watches, all kinds of huge rings, rhinestone capes, sitting around in hot tubs sippin champagne, the total Cribs lifestyle. Or Super Fly. This could be the unofficial part 4. The Rise of White Super Fly. Or SPRING BREAKERS 2. He doesn’t have to say “look at my shit.” He knows you’re gonna fuckin look.

And Soderbergh, as director, cinematographer and editor, showcases the shit out of all of Scott and Liberace’s shit. There’s the cars:

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The jewels:

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He’s got the gate with an “L” on it:

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And the pools:

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I’m actually not sure how they got all these properties with the over-the-top decorations from that era. Seems almost too expensive to fake. They have long shots going down hallways, these seem to be real places. Liberace’s tastes are not subtle. This one seems to have the Sistine Chapel ceiling recreated in it. But with chandeliers hanging in the middle. Sorry Michelangelo, I know you worked hard on that part but we gotta bolt some lights on there.

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I know he’s playing piano, it’s a really different style of music, but he is living the exact life glamourized by all these rappers from the ’80s until now. Riding around in a limo on the Vegas Strip, having some drinks, some coke, wearing furs:

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The opulence, the hotel suites, the Lear jets, everything. It’s just some dudes hanging out together you know, living like hustlers, kickin it V.I.P. style. I mean, it’s weird that there aren’t any women around, except sometimes Lee’s mother Dora (Debbie Reynolds).

You know what, going back through the movie again in my mind it is possible there were some things going on that maybe I should’ve been able to put two and two together, maybe I can see why some of the rappers and Scarface worshipers wouldn’t be entirely comfortable with some of this. There is alot of buttfucking for example, it is definitely in my opinion about gay men in retrospect and there is some homophobia in that world. But I mean, check out the fur coat.

Written by Richard LaGravenese (THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY), this is a really entertaining look at a crazy life. It’s funny and sad and uncomfortable. Lee is an asshole with a tendency to have a relationship with these young guys and then replace them with a new one after a couple of years. He’s kind of a spoiled brat, he’s built this success through hard work but now feels it entitles him to treat people poorly when they don’t fit exactly into his dream world. But he’s still likable, sympathetic and tragic. Not just because he gets sick (SPOILER), but because he’s stuck in this weird place where he wants to be his flamboyant crazy self but occasionally runs into the larger world where you have to hide that you’re gay.

I mean, he gets away with alot of it though. One of the biggest laughs is Damon first seeing a Liberace show in Vegas and realizing that the straight audience doesn’t understand how gay it is. It’s a little sadder when you see his memoir, where he talks about his many loves, all women.

And it gets creepy-weird too. He tries to trick Scott into getting plastic surgery to look like him, and also tries to adopt him. Those are two big relationship no-nos in my opinion. Trust me on this, fellas.

Douglas is fantastic in the role, a good imitation and dramatic performance that happens to be an effeminate spin on the usual Douglas good-guy-prick type of character. And, as is often the case, Damon gets even more heavy lifting as the straight man, so to speak. He goes through more of an evolution from everyman to entitled douche, both mentally and physically. He kinda earns what he gets, but it’s still sad to see this:

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Something tragic about a sweaty man angrily drinking champagne alone in a bubble bath. Ultimately all this luxury doesn’t make either of them very happy.

The movie is briefly stolen by Rob Lowe, with hilariously terrifying pinched face, as a plastic surgeon, drug pusher and terrible influence on both of these characters.

You might say this isn’t a musical biopic, because it all takes place late in the game, after his success. There are no montages of newspaper headlines and chart positions. No make-or-break meetings with important industry people. Information about Liberace’s life and career are worked into the story, but as backstory. Still, it’s a very musical movie, with tons of real Liberace pieces worked into the last score by Marvin Hamlisch. Makes it real bouncy and upbeat.

You guys I’m not saying it’s as good as SCARFACE or SUPER FLY, but it’s better than most.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2014 at 12:59 am and is filed under Drama, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

14 Responses to “Behind the Candelabra”

  1. When my rss feed reader suddenly said “Then Fuck You, Jack Behind The Candelabra”, I giggled.

  2. Knox Harrington

    April 28th, 2014 at 2:06 am

    I was lucky enough to watch this on the big screen (after thinking that Side Effects would be my last Soderbergh experience at the cinemas). And boy, it didn’t disappoint. I fucking love this guy. He’s a real filmmaker’s filmmaker. There’s just no one else out there like him, and goddamnit, I’m gonna miss his presence in the movie world.

    You guys should check out extension765.com, his website where he does some crazy shit like cut the two versions of Psycho (Hitchcock’s and Van Sant’s) together, or where he decided to cut Heaven’s Gate down to 108 minutes (he’s really into editing, which is part of why I’m such a big fan). There’s also a great essay about Chinatown and how most of the film was shot on one lens. Film buff catnip, really.

  3. I haven’t seen this on account of my debilitating allergy to musical biopics, but Vern makes a real good case, as per usual. It might be worth it just for the decor.

    Oh, and Vern, I know it sounds creepy, but gay men adopting each other was one of the only ways they could share some of the same legal rights as married folks back in the pre-gay marriage days. Property could be passed on and they could visit each other in the hospital. Sad that it came to that and probably didn’t help their reputation in straight society as a bunch of pedophiles but what else were they supposed to do?

  4. I too have an intense aversion to musicals *and* biopics and I still absolutely loved this fucking thing. Just such an incredibly entertaining movie all round. One of my favourites of last year actually. And Vern is spot on about Rob Lowe’s role and scene stealing performance. Right up there with Jason Bateman’s turn in Smokey and the Aces in my opinion.

  5. I’m with you Vern. This was a pretty great movie to me but afterwards when kickin back and rewatching a great macho classic about some mean ass bikers (Grease 2, pretty cool biker movie if you haven’t seen it) I began to think maybe they was suggestin somethin fishy was goin on between these two guys.

    Almost reminded me of when I put Queen The Complete Works 14 LP collection on layby and paid it off doin a paper-round for like 9 months of saving. Here I am singin falsetto versions of Death on Two Legs and I Want to Break Free and mum is trying to say no Arma, this guy is a poof and we dun like poofs. But dun fret, she couldn’t pressure me, I was like c’mon mum, dun you get theys just getting fancy for show? Next thing you’ll be thinkin You Can’t Stop The Music is not really a movie about village people makin the big time. She was always tryin to make me burn my albums but proof was in the pudding and I was proven right all along. But yeah, for moment there I thought Soderbergh had made some pretty poor suggestions in my opinion, but then I realised how stupid that was given Soderbergh’s love for pleasing women like he did with Magic Mike so it’s all good Vern, no fear.

    AU

  6. Yeah Soderbergh/Douglas/Damon couldn’t get this made for years, nobody in Hollywood wanted to fund a movie about gay people (much less gay people from 30 years ago) but thankfully HBO stepped in. Fun Fact: Steven Spielberg said that LINCOLN came *this close* to becoming a HBO project when he had trouble getting funds.

    Anyway, we’ll never know but I really really want to believe that if this had been up for Oscar contention…Michael Douglas probably would’ve been nominated again. Maybe win his 3rd Oscar (2nd for acting)? I mean I know we sometimes take him for granted, especially when he’s playing his Michael Douglas film persona…but when he’s on fire, he’s on FIRE. He was brilliant. Damon was pretty good too.

    Also speaking of the supporting cast, how about Scott Bakula? Underrated guy that Soderbergh apparently understands how to utilize well.

    “Lee is an asshole with a tendency to have a relationship with these young guys and then replace them with a new one after a couple of years. ”

    Vern – its funny in an ironic way that you referenced Prince* before you wrote that bit because that pretty much sums up his relationships. What was that line from DAZED & CONFUSED? “I get older, but the girls don’t.” That sums up Liberace and Prince perfectly.

    *=Two Prince references in your last two reviews? I think I know what you’re trying to tell us about what you’re planning to review in the future. Or just an awesome coincidence. Nah.

  7. “Yeah Soderbergh/Douglas/Damon couldn’t get this made for years, nobody in Hollywood wanted to fund a movie about gay people (much less gay people from 30 years ago) but thankfully HBO stepped in. Fun Fact: Steven Spielberg said that LINCOLN came *this close* to becoming a HBO project when he had trouble getting funds.”

    doesn’t surprise me, if it’s not about robots or superheroes Hollywood doesn’t give a shit anymore

  8. I’m kind of surprised they had such a hard time getting it made. Every year they need to make a few movies about historical gay people with diseases to nominate for oscars so they can pat themselves on the back for saving the world. Why not this one?

  9. Because he was “too gay”? If you make a movie about such a flamboyant homosexual, you better make it a comedy, I can imagine.

  10. about the set, EW ran a big article about this movie, and had photos with captions about the set decorations. Apparently the Jacuzzi was made from the same mold made for Liberace’s actual tub. The guy they went to had designed it and still had it in his shop. There was something else in his house I remember reading, they had found it in a prop shop and later discovered it had been bought at an auction of Liberace’s estate. Pretty interesting if you can get ahold of it. Its the cover story, a month maybe before the movie premiered, whenever that was

  11. oh also, I meant to mention, this review is “Top of the Pile” material. I laughed so fucking hard when I got to paragraph 12. Brilliant set-up.

  12. This may be, simply, one of my favourite films of the last few years. Is there a better American director than Soderbergh working today? I doubt it.

  13. Should they have got someone like Zac Efron or Nicholas Hoult to play Scott?

  14. Was going to say “nice to see Dan Aykroyd” but then I looked at imdb and realized I’m simply oblivious to all the stuff he’s been in recently. Still, it was nice to see him.

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