Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Dan Aykroyd, Debbie Reynolds
Running Time: 118 minutes
Certificate: 15
Perhaps the most surprising thing about BEHIND THE CANDELABRA isn’t the depiction of ostentatious wealth, obscene materialism or unsettling co-dependency, but that it’s a TV movie. Soderbergh finally got funding from US cable channel HBO, after being refused by all the major production companies because his film was deemed “too gay”.
Adapted from the biography of Liberace’s live-in lover Scott Thorson, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA follows the story from the boyfriend’s perspective. Scott, an animal trainer for Hollywood, meets Liberace as a teenager when they bond over Baby Boy (the star’s poodle suffering with cataracts). Before you can say razzle dazzle Scott’s shacked up with the (much) older star and so begins a downward descent into possessive behaviour, drug abuse and plastic surgery.
There’s something of BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) in the depiction of ‘70s and ‘80s excesses. But BEHIND THE CANDELABRA approaches its subject matter with a rich vein of dark biting humour, supplied primarily by Michael Douglas’ extraordinary performance as Liberace. He flounces and floats around his Las Vegas house wrapped in furs and silks and sparkles, his voice a nasal and querulous purr. He’s the quintessential performer. Yet at times this beautiful home seems like a trap; we barely leave it. Instead quicker than you can say SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) we’re stuck in there with the couple and their increasing instability, fuelled by Liberace’s narcissism. The unbelievable heights of his vanity are fully revealed when he persuades Scott to undergo plastic surgery to look like a younger version of Liberace himself. It’s both ludicrous and creepy.
Matt Damon is perfectly cast as Scott, showing the decline from (more or less) wholesome and besotted teenager to petulant and jealous lover. The supporting cast are stellar too, and none more eerie than Rob Lowe playing plastic surgeon to the stars, Dr Jack Startz. His skin is pulled so tightly round his face he resembles a cross between a large feline and a grey alien, while Dan Aykroyd is excellent as Liberace’s rude and obnoxious manager, despite minimal screen time.
Where the film falls down is in the later sections. After the inevitable and oh so dramatic breakup, the narrative moves along more tried and tested lines, culminating in a squidgy Hallmark card sequence when Scott visits the dying Liberace at his bedside, despite all the lawsuits and vitriol. Whilst obviously tied to real life events, Soderbergh’s direction feels particularly safe here, although it’s hard to say what he could have done differently.
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA is a mesmerising cabaret show for any audience. The cast is more solid than Liberace’s hair piece and the costumes are utterly fabulous, but it’s really Douglas who’s the show-stealer as the magnetic and grotesque entertainer.
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA is out on DVD and Blu-ray Monday October 14
