Starring: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston, Nina Arianda, Rufus Jones, Susy Kane
Director: Jon S. Baird
Release date: 11th January 2018
The year is 1937 and Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C Reilly) are at the top of their game, the most famous comedy duo in the world. Flash forward to 16 years later, and it’s much later in their careers. They both agree to travel to the UK and Ireland to do a tour of music halls and soon arrive in Newcastle, where it is extremely wet and windy. They do a few shows but are disappointed with the poor turn out at each one. The pair travel all around England and finally end up in London, but the shows are taking their toll on the partnership and Oliver has started gambling.. They play to a packed Lyceum Theatre but afterwards there is a very public huge row. Past events have caught up between the pair and their friendship is at breaking point. Can they resolve their differences and continue as before?
Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) were one of, if not the most famous comedy duos in cinematic history. Not originally a partnership til they both began working for Hal Roach, it was in 1927 that they worked on their first movie together. They appeared in an incredible 107 films together and have influenced many many comedians over the years.
A wonderful movie about the latter years of the great Laurel and Hardy, they couldn’t have chosen two better actors for this particular one, than Steve Coogan and John C Reilly. The mannerisms, their ways of walking and speaking, every tiny little detail is there. A huge amount of work and research has obviously gone into portraying the pair as accurately as possible.
This movie will entertain you, make you laugh and possibly even make you cry too. It’s a must see for all comedy fans or anyone who just loves watching biopics of real people’s life stories. Also any fans of both lead actors will not be disappointed.
You really must watch this movie to see just how a biopic should be done. It’ll be very surprising if this film doesn’t appear around awards season and takes home a few prizes. This is definitely one to be watched more than once.
Overall: 9.5/10
