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| Stan & Ollie |
I saw the last Harry Potter movie in 2011, largely because I had just seen the one prior to it on DVD and I didn't want to wait six months for the next DVD.
I took my wife to see "A Dog's Purpose" in 2017 because it was based on a book we both loved.
And yesterday I drove over to the 16-plex in McDonough for a matinee showing of "Stan & Ollie," the BBC movie about Laurel and Hardy's final tour of England in 1953.
I had been eager to see the movie since I first saw the trailer. I have always liked John C. Reilly, and seeing him as Oliver Hardy just blew me away. The only problem was that his voice is so distinctive and there were times I had trouble getting past that.
British actor Steve Coogan was outstanding as Stan Laurel. I hadn't seen him in too many things before, although he had a small role as the Roman centurion in the three "Night at the Museum" movies.
I hadn't realized that Laurel was very much the senior partner. He was paid significantly more than Hardy because he wrote the scripts and supervised much of the productions.
If there was one thing apparent as their careers wound down, it was the love the two men felt for each other.
Their films were completely a product of their time. While Marx Brothers movies and others that relied on wordplay hold up very well, the slapstick in movies like "Way Out West" goes on almost to the point of being painful to watch.
But the rest -- the little dances and songs -- have a sweetness to them that long outlives the two men.
And they were the best.
Better than Abbott and Costello, better than Martin and Lewis, better than any other duos. It's why people still watch and enjoy their films 80 years or more after they were made.
Yes, it was a fine mess.
A very fine mess.
I had been eager to see the movie since I first saw the trailer. I have always liked John C. Reilly, and seeing him as Oliver Hardy just blew me away. The only problem was that his voice is so distinctive and there were times I had trouble getting past that.
British actor Steve Coogan was outstanding as Stan Laurel. I hadn't seen him in too many things before, although he had a small role as the Roman centurion in the three "Night at the Museum" movies.
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| Coogan and Reilly, Laurel and Hardy |
If there was one thing apparent as their careers wound down, it was the love the two men felt for each other.
Their films were completely a product of their time. While Marx Brothers movies and others that relied on wordplay hold up very well, the slapstick in movies like "Way Out West" goes on almost to the point of being painful to watch.
But the rest -- the little dances and songs -- have a sweetness to them that long outlives the two men.
And they were the best.
Better than Abbott and Costello, better than Martin and Lewis, better than any other duos. It's why people still watch and enjoy their films 80 years or more after they were made.
Yes, it was a fine mess.
A very fine mess.
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