Stan & Ollie

Stan & Ollie_360P

I don't think I have ever laughed and shed tears so much in any one film. Admittedly as a lifelong L&H enthusiast, I was prepared to be hyper-critical as so many biopics are frankly terrible. No need to worry, the depiction of each by the superb John C Reilly and Steve Coogan was immaculate; sometimes you could think you were watching the originals. Matched by true authenticity and camera work, this is the best film I have seen for years. It will be very interesting to see if it receives the awards it richly deserves as it does not fit the usual description of recent Oscars etc

Any film that can make me cry deserves at least 8 out of 10.

Hello As a lifelong fan for Laurel & Hardy, when I first heard that a film was being made about their later years I was quite hesitant as I wanted them to be treated with the respect and admiration they deserve. As more news kept coming out for the film I became more and more optimistic. When it was announced that Jeff Pope was writing the film I knew that it was going to have some talent behind it. Jeff also wrote Philomena which is one of the best British films in recent years. Then came the news that Steve Coogan and John C Reilly had been cast as The Boys. I was overjoyed and couldn't wait for the film to be released so I could see the finished product. I was not disappointed. I have been very lucky to see the film twice and I am still so happy with what has been done. I will start by getting the obvious out of the way, Coogan and Reilly have nailed it as Laurel & Hardy. Both have make up and prosthetics to make the challenge easier but you can see that a lot of research has been done by both men. The fact that they are both fans of Laurel & Hardy must have helped with their performances. Their performances are backed up by Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda as their wives. The scene with them on their own are just as entertaining as the scenes with Stan & Ollie. The film has some great recreations of classic scenes and routines with careful attention to detail. I have a few issues with the film with certain scenes and events within the storyline but they are minimal and does not take the overall enjoyment of the film away. In closing I would recommend this film to everyone, fan of Laurel & Hardy or not. This film is truly made with love and respect for Laurel & Hardy and it shows throughout this well made production. With excellent performances, great writing and excellent production values it is a love letter of a strong friendship between two legendary gentlemen. I would personally like to thank every member of the team who worked on this film for all their work, this Laurel & Hardy fan appreciates every bit of work done. PS - I'm stalking the local cinema to get a copy of the poster which I want for my bedroom wall so fingers crossed lol

After a quick introduction in 1937 during which we discover Laurel and Hardy at their peak and in full glory, we elliptically flip in 1953, which seems to be the beginning of the end of a legendary association imbued with a seamless friendship. The duet is wonderfully and faithfully interpreted by 2 excellent actors.

I've just had the rare pleasure of watching a film that can be classed as truly remarkable at an Unlimited Cineworld screening. This will be a future classic with The Godfather Part 2, Raging Bull, Lincoln etc. John C Reilly IS Oliver Hardy. A possible awards contender? Most definitely. Steve Coogan I think is Stan Laurel's Love child. Both remarkable and thoroughly believable performances. Being a lifelong fan of Laurel & Hardy, this could quite easily be the two men themselves. I read another review mentioning the first 4 or 5 minute shot. Beautifully woven and assembled. As good as La La Land. If you like L&H, even if you don't, this film will surely make you smile and quite possibly cry too. I didn't.....honest..!

The problem with any comedy double act is that if illness or death get in the way (think Dustin Gee and Les Dennis; or Morecambe and Wise) the wheels can come off for the other partner. "Stan and Ollie" tells the story of the comic duo starting in 1937 when they reached their peak of global popularity, albeit when Laurel was hardly on speaking terms with their long-term producer Hal Roach (Danny Huston). As you might guess from this, the emotional direction for the film is downwards, but not necessarily in a totally depressing way. The film depicts the duo's tour of Laurel's native country (he was born in Lancashire) and this has its ups as well as its downs. Not knowing their life story, this is one where when the trailer came on I shut my eyes and plugged my ears so as to avoid spoilers: as such I will say nothing further on the details of the plot. My wife and I were reminiscing after seeing this flick about how our parents used to crack up over the film antics of Laurel and Hardy. And they were, in their own slapstick way, very funny indeed. The film manages to recreate (impecably) some of their more famous routines and parodies others: their travel trunk gallops to the bottom of the station steps, mimicking the famous scenes with a piano from 1932's "The Music Box". "Do we really need that trunk" Hardy deadpans to Laurel. There are four star turns at the heart of the film and they are John C. Reilly as Ollie; Steve Coogan as Stan; Shirley Henderson (forever to be referenced as "Moaning Myrtle") as Ollie's wife Lucille and Nina Arianda (so memorable as the 'pointer outer' in the 'Emperor's New Clothes' segment of "Florence Foster Jenkins") as Stan's latest wife Ida. Coogan and Reilly do an outstanding job of impersonating the comic duo. Both are simply brilliant, playing up to their public personas when visible but subtly delivering similar traits in private. Of the two, John C. Reilly's performance is the most memorable: he IS Oliver Hardy. Not taking too much away from the other performance, but there are a few times when Coogan poked through the illusion (like a Partridge sticking its head out from a Pear Tree you might say). Henderson and Arianda also add tremendous heart to the drama, and Arianda's Ida in particular is hilarious. Also delivering a fabulous supporting role is Rufus Jones as the famous impressario Bernard Delfont: all smarm and Machiavellian chicanery that adds a different shape of comedy to the film. Overall it's one of those pleasant and untaxing cinema experiences that older audiences in particular will really enjoy. However, the film's far from perfect in my view: the flash-forwards/flash-backs I felt made the story bitty and disjointed; and ultimately the life story of the duo doesn't have a huge depth of drama in it to amaze or excite, the way that 2004's "Beyond the Sea" (the biopic of Bobby Darin) did for example. But the film never gets boring or disappoints. I'd like to say that the script by Jeff Pope ("Philomena") is historically accurate, but a look at the wikipedia entries for the pair show that it was far from that. Yes, the tours of the UK and Europe did happen, but over multiple years and the actual events in their lives are telescoped into a single trip for dramatic purposes. But I think the essence of the pair comes across nicely. Laurel's wikipedia entry records a nice death-bed scene that sums up the guy: "Minutes before his death, he told his nurse that he would not mind going skiing, and she replied that she was not aware that he was a skier. "I'm not," said Laurel, "I'd rather be doing that than this!" A few minutes later, the nurse looked in on him again and found that he had died quietly in his armchair." "Stan and Ollie" has a few preview screenings before the New Year, but goes on UK general release on January 11th 2018. Recommended. (For the full graphical review, check out One Mann's Movies on the web and Facebook. Thanks).

Steve Coogan has catapulted himself into a different class in this film, John C Riley, well you kind of expect and he never disappoints, solid and dependable. With such distinguished and recognisable cast, you kind of expect to see the familiar characters of the actors themselves playing parts that you cannot suspend disbelief. Clint Eastwood for example, you see a Clint Eastwood film, you have no idea who he's playing, it's just Clint Eastwood. But here, Steve Coogan disappears from the screen and becomes Stan Laurel, you are aware there are some slight physical appearance which make you know it's not quite right, but you are not seeing Steve Coogan, that's for sure. The film is engaging, enlightening into the real people that existed behind the alter egos of Laurel and Hardy, and is a beautiful dip into their personal relationship without portraying any dirty dark revelations that a sensationalist may be tempted to put into a film. Instead it remains for the most, a journey you take with the boys, and their struggle to remain relevant in a fast changing world after some not so good decisions in hindsight, and decisions which were presented well enough for you to subscribe to the reasoning of each possibility and probably make the same mistakes yourself. What im trying to say is that some films will present such bad career decisions as painfully obvious to the viewer, but this film left you taking both sides with equal validity. But most of all, the film presents their deep and loving friendship. I wept, I wiped the tears and weaped some more. The kind of tear when you are simply moved by such genuine love. The film seemed to be over too quickly, I could've stayed another hour and half. Well done all concerned. Now this, this is award winning stuff.

This is the best new movie I have watched in years. John C. Reilly could easily be nominated for acting honors. The cinematography is beautiful, the sets are believable and the story seems to be an honest account of an interesting part of Stan and Ollie's lives. The best part of this movie is the opening four minute plus tracking scene. It is not quite as great as LaLaLand's tracking shot but still one of the all time best. Laurel and Hardy fans will love this movie. Hopefully it will make youngsters curious enough to watch some of their old movies. This movies uses some of my favorite scenes from Way Out West. Excellent movie.

source: Stan & Ollie