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.
Growing up in Dublin, Ireland in the 1970s and ’80s, my friends and I would watch Laurel & Hardy religiously. They always entertained, no matter how many times you watched the same movie over and over. Both men had expert comic timing and while each of them brought their own unique comedic style, together, they were the absolute perfect onscreen pair. Forget about Abbott and Costello, Laurel & Hardy were the original comedy duo and nobody has since come close. While times change and comedy is constantly being reinvented, the slapstick and farcical routines that Laurel & Hardy both employed, never gets old, no matter what your age. The sight of two grown men struggling to move a piano in 1932’s “The Music Box,” or trying to evade their wives’ wrath in 1933’s “Sons of the Desert,” are just a few examples of their comic genius.
“Stan & Ollie” begins in Hollywood in 1937 as the two are preparing to shoot what would become one of their best movies ever, “Way Out West.” As the two make their way towards the studio, we get a little backstory about them, Stan (Steve Coogan) is always at his typewriter, writing new material for he and Oliver to incorporate into their movie routines, while Ollie (John C. Reilly), has been married several times before and in each divorce, has been financially wiped out. He has just proposed to his new girlfriend, Lucille (Shirley Henderson) and we discover that he is also a big gambler and has lost most of his earnings as a result so he and Stan are hoping to re-negotiate their contracts with Hal Roach (Danny Huston), the mega-producer who discovered them and made them famous. While Ollie prefers a more diplomatic approach in dealing with Hal, Stan always speaks his mind and as a consequence, because his contract with Hal Roach Studios has just expired, Roach fires him and keeps Ollie on board, forcing the two men to work separately.
We fast forward to 1953 when both men have pretty much lost their appeal at the box office. While Stan has negotiated a deal with 20th Century Fox for both he and Ollie to make a return to the big screen, to fill in the time while their new movie is in pre-production, they agree to a music hall tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Starting off in small theatres in the UK with only a handful of people in attendance, gradually, positive word of mouth about the show, which incorporates some of the best routines from their films, spreads and because of increased ticket sales and sold-out performances, their tour manager, Bernard (Rufus Jones), bumps them up to some of the biggest and most glamorous venues England has to offer.
On stage, both men have the audiences in tears but behind the scenes, while Stan and Ollie have a stable friendship, Stan’s resentment towards Ollie for making other films in the past with other actors, instead of fighting for both of them to continue appearing together, surfaces and both men engage in a huge argument, resulting in both of them storming off and ignoring each other. While Bernard had insisted on them doing public appearances to help spread the word of their new show, at the seaside resort of Worthing to judge a local beauty contest, just as they are both scheduled to go on stage to announce the winner, Ollie collapses from a heart attack. Stan immediately takes him back to their hotel and Ollie’s wife Lucille calls for a doctor and pushes Stan out of the room. Stan and his wife Ida (Nina Arianda), talk about the future of the show and Bernard introduces him to a local comedian who he insists can take over from Ollie but on the first night of the show, Stan refuses to go on stage and makes his way back to Ollie, informing him that he cannot do it without him.
Both men have a heart to heart and apologize for the heated exchange a few nights earlier and even though Ollie’s doctor has warned him against performing any more at the risk of suffering another heart attack, he informs Stan that he will finish the remainder of the show with him. The last part of the show takes them to Cobh in County Cork in Ireland where they are greeted by thousands of enthusiastic Irish fans. On the last night of their show in Cobh, Ollie begins to feel unwell, sweating and suffering from shortness of breath but when Stan intervenes, Ollie insists on finishing the act, one last time, with their famous dance routine to J. Leubrie Hill’s “At the Ball, That’s All,” from “Way Out West.”
“Stan & Ollie” was a movie I had been wanting to see ever since I saw the first trailer. A lot of actors in biopics, such as Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull,” or more recently, Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” did a great service to the real-life people they were playing but I have never seen two actors look almost identical to the people they were portraying as John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan do here. While Reilly had to wear prosthetics and a fat suit to look like Ollie, both he and Coogan’s facial expressions and mannerisms are indistinguishable from the real Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. I just wish Sony Pictures Classics had released this at the end of last year so it could have had a chance at the Oscars because I would have named it my favorite movie of the year and would have been very surprised if both actors, as well as director Jon S. Baird, had not been nominated.
The very last scene in the movie, with both men dancing on stage, brought me to tears. While Ollie’s health was rapidly declining, he went on with the show, for the sake of his old pal Stan and for the audiences who came out to see them. He could have easily called it a day and, per his doctor’s orders, went back to the United States but he didn’t. I spent my entire life idolizing both Laurel & Hardy, comics who were genius in everything they did and watching both men approach the end of their days while maintaining big smiles on their faces, for each other and their fans, was inspiring, uplifting, and heartbreaking. I was never a fan of John C. Reilly but after this, I have a newfound respect for him and hope he continues to do more serious roles and not the rubbish he does with Will Ferrell, like the recent, horrendous “Holmes & Watson.” I have always liked Steve Coogan, he was hilarious in “The Trip” and its two sequels, as well as “Philomena” with Judi Dench, and both he and Reilly are at the top of their game here. If you’re not familiar with Laurel & Hardy, check out some of their movies on Amazon or YouTube, then go see this film, you’ll be glad you did.
In select theaters Friday, January 25th
