Movie Review - Behind The Candelabra

Behind The Candelabra, from Steven Soderbergh, takes us through the final years of Liberace's flamboyant life and in particular his long term relationship with secret lover Scott Thorston.  This movie was allegedly "too gay" for theatrical release in the US, but apparently okay for the rest of the world.  So is this behind the scenes biopic worth it, or should it have been left in the closet?

Behind The Candelabra is based on Scott Thorston's autobiography.  We see Scott (Matt Damon), a bisexual Hollywood animal trainer who meets Liberace (Michael Douglas) when he gets to go back stage at a concert.  He soon gets invited to Liberace's palatial home, and after an offer to bring medicine for one of the dogs, soon ends up in Liberace's bed.  What follows is a rags to riches rollercoaster throughout the course of their six year relationship.

This is a decent movie with just a few issues holding it back.  First up it seems to be a bit confused about who the film is actually about.  It's obvious that this is Scott's story, but for a while it's all Liberace.  It then swings back and forth for a bit before focusing back on Scott and his adventures.  Then there is Michael Douglas's performance.  I have heard that he got Liberace down pat, and if that is true then he would not have been a man you could hang around for extended periods of time.  He's not nasty, he just gets grating.  After a while it was really getting on my nerves.  I have since gone and done some in depth research (ie looking up a bunch of youtube videos) and Liberace did not appear to be as camp as the portrayal in this movie.

There is still no denying that Michael Douglas and Matt Damon put on a great performance in the movie.  Touching, funny, sentimental, sad, dramatic... it's all there and carried off with great skill.  There is a good chance that there will be some award nominations around the place.  The supporting cast also does a great job, particularly Rob Lowe as sleazy plastic surgeon Dr Jack Startz and Dan Aykroyd's fine performance as Liberace's manager, Seymour Heller.

That just leaves one question, is this movie really to gay for Hollywood?  I am quite skeptical about that claim.  Sure there are some buttocks in shot but none of the sex scenes are in any way graphic and there are only a couple of short ones anyway.  When compared to films like Brokeback Mountain or Milk (both of which got theatrical release) there really is nothing here that justifies the claim.  My guess is that it was felt this movie would not get that much of an audience.  Of course the "too gay" claim is great publicity for it in other markets and will probably help increase ticket sales.

While Behind The Candelabra is certainly a good movie with some excellent performances it will probably only really appeal to a niche market.  Liberace's legend really hasn't stood the test of time and the "controversy" will probably be the main reason anyone other than long term fans or biopic enthusiasts will go see it.  I would still recommend it, but put it around four or five in your list of movies to see.

In two words - plastic grimace.