Stan & Ollie (2018)

Jack and I loved this bio-pic of Laurel & Hardy, centering on their last theatre tour in 1950s Great Britain. Fine acting and writing, gorgeous production design, and flawless makeup are but some of the reasons we enjoyed it so much.

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly (last blogged for The Dinner and The Little Hours, respectively) were apparently the first choices of the director and screenwriter for the title roles, and they disappear into their characters, with their performance antics compartmentalized from their private lives. And Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda (most recently in these pages for T2 Trainspotting and Florence Foster Jenkins, respectively) add much to the roles of the pragamatic Mrs. Hardy and the narcissistic Mrs. Laurel.

This is the third feature for director Jon S. Baird (I haven't seen the others) and the first on which he hasn't written or co-written the script. That job went to Jeff Pope, co-writer of Philomena, which also starred Coogan.

I just about swooned at some of the art deco furniture (that hotel bedroom suite!) and general set dressing, thanks to production designer John Paul Kelly (some of his work that I've seen includes Enduring Love (2004), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), The Guard, About Time, and The Theory of Everything).

On my list of this year's nominations, you'll see three for Reilly (two losses, one not done yet). What I haven't included on the list this year are the British awards. As I said last month, The Favourite won ten awards at the British Independent Film Awards, beating out Stan & Ollie's seven nominations (Best Actor for Coogan, Best Supporting Actress for Arianda, Breakthrough Producer, Casting, Costumes, Makeup and Hair,  and Production Design). This movie also has three BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominations: Outstanding British Film, Coogan for Best Actor, and Makeup and Hair (those awards are next month).

I haven't been able to find any of Rolfe Kent's (last blogged for Downsizing) soundtrack music online, so have been listening to other tracks while I write.

Don't rush out of the theatre at the end, because you'll be treated to not only clips of the actual Laurel & Hardy, but also a sort of dream sequence, with Coogan and Reilly inserted digitally into an old movie (you'll totally get it when you see it).

You don't need us to recommend you see this--Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is 92% and its audiences' 88.