Stan & Ollie (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Jon S. Baird (Filth)
	Actors: Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum 1-2), John C. Reilly (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lobster, Kong: Skull Island), Shirley Henderson
	Country: USA, GB, CDN
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 28.09.2019, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: Laurel and Hardy, the world's most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song - a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain.
Review: Even though I haven't seen any of their work in 30 years, I remember very well how the slapstick visual humor from Laurel and Hardy made me laugh as a kid. I knew nothing of their real-life story and didn't know about this movie, but I was immediately motivated to see it. As usual to make a good biopic, this movies doesn't relate flatly how the pair met, started, achieved glory and ended. It rather focuses on the end of their career, in fact on a turning point where they get back together after a long separation, when their fame is not what it used to be. It is a interesting choice, one that had the potential to bring a lot of Drama to the story instead of an easier choice of making a positive comedy about a success story. This balance of Drama and Comedy (present and past via some flashbacks)  makes for an excellent and very touching movie. I liked it a lot. Technically, it does wonders at sending you back in time and showing the backstage of their most famous pieces. How they walk past the sets while discussing, and ending on the scene between the camera and the background screen behind them. This definitely makes me want to watch some of their classics again. Their personal difficulties are also well represented between money problems, alcoholism, gambling, women, health... those problems that you know plague the life of artists nowadays, exposed by the media, were already present at that time but probabaly not known. For example I was not surprised to learn that they were living a poor man's life, being screwed over by the studios. The movie is also very good at exposing how much of showmen were those two characters, and how hard they worked to grab on to success at the end. Finally, Stan & Ollie wouldn't be so good without the talent of its two main actors, John C. Reilly in particular which is unrecognizable and brings so much to the character.
Rating: 7 /10