La Femme Recommends...Behind the Candelabra

I even Instagrammed it!

Behind the Candelabra is supposedly Steven Soderbergh's final film.  On the one hand, that's a damn shame, because he is a consistently interesting, journeyman filmmaker; on the other hand, this is a great way to go out, with a film filled with energy, verve, and drama.   It is a political drama, a love story, and a biopic all rolled up into one with a really sparkly facade.  It was the most fun I've had watching a movie all year, and I don't think it will be exceeded anytime soon.  K and I had a little two person party full of champagne, fondue, and gold sparkly turbans (well, just me with the turban) to celebrate Liberace in the proper setting! I giggled at the beginning but soon found myself engrossed in the human drama that Soderbergh and his actors created before me.

Who wouldn't want to have a hot tub in their bedroom?

Also, can I have a sparkly piano?

Michael Douglas takes center stage as Liberace (or Lee, as he prefers to be called).  Before watching this movie, I had some idea of who Liberace was, but my knowledge was mostly that he played the piano, wore ridiculous costumes, and was completely in the closet.  Douglas takes this colloquial caricature of Liberace and both plays it up and tears it down: his Lee is vain, audacious, gaudy, and can be terribly cruel and jealous, but he is also generous, fun, and caring.  Douglas provides what one always wants in a biopic subject, as he becomes the character, makes him full and well rounded. We don't have to compare Douglas's Liberace to the real person because, in the world of the film, he is Liberace.  Damon is just as good in the more thankless role of Scott Thorson, who meets Liberace by chance and is easily seduced by the furs, jewels, and excesses of Lee's life.  Damon does seem a little old to play this role, especially in the beginning of the film, but he is nevertheless able to exude the youth and playfulness that the role demands.  Additionally, the supporting cast is filled with those great little characters you expect from a Soderbergh film: Rob Lowe looking pulled and tucked and unrecognizable as Lee's plastic surgeon who hooks Thorson on diet pills (a.k.a speed), Dan Akroyd as Liberace's manager, Scott Bakula as Thorson's friend who introduces him to Lee, Cheyenne Jackson as Liberace's protege Bobby who is replaced by Scott, and Scott Ramsay as house boy (yes, that is exactly what you think it is, a manservant in booty shorts), Carlucci.  Both Jackson and XXX give great, nearly wordless performances, providing their manic highs and depressive lows simply with their faces (amazing scorn and side eye) and bodies (have you seen Carlucci's booty!).

In a lot of ways, this is a story that we have seen so many times in Hollywood, both in films and in real life couplings.  A young, beautiful creature is seduced by an older, successful entertainer. Typically, the balance of power in these kinds of relationships is split between the younger person using their body to entrance the older partner, and the older one using their money and lifestyle to keep the younger person around.  And usually that relationship ends in marriage, and, even if the younger person is replaced with a shiny, newer model, we see them getting some kind of security because of the marriage and we see the older character miserable because fame is ultimately empty, and so and and so on.  Behind the Candelabra plays out in that way too with one big caveat, because they men (one very much in the closet to his female fans), those options aren't open to them.  No matter how much they care for each other and how open they are in their own community, their relationship is always one behind closed doors or with Scott pretending to be someone else.  Lee hires Thorson as his assistant and pays him to come on stage with him, his fans think he is an employee and nothing more. They can't go out to clubs and restaurants like a normal couple so they spend all their time at home; which eventually causes their relationship to rot. We see how much Scott means to Lee, how much he really does love him, and the sad and ridiculous way he tries to legitimize their relationship to the rest of the world;  he buys him a house and puts it in Scott's name, he pays him an allowance (he also asks him to get plastic surgery so they can look more alike),  and even tries to adopt him in order to give their relationship some kind of legal status. But ultimately he can't do anything more, and when he is done with Scott he throws him out and Scott has no recourse, he loses the life he loved, just like that.   Behind the Candelabra is a trifle in many ways, reveling in the luxurious lifestyle of house boys, hot tubs, and garish gold everything, but it is also makes a subtle political statement about marriage equality and the necessity of it for the betterment of our society.

As Liberace liked to say, "Too much of a good thing is wonderful".  I could have saved a lot of time by just writing that about Behind the Candelabra.  I hope it is on HBO again right now.

Julie