Review of Behind the Candelabra (2013) by Cameron W — 17 Jun 2013

Behind the Candelabra is a very interesting film about Liberace and his lover, Scott Thorson, but the film is more about the difficulty of being true to yourself whilst being in the public eye. The film is honestly wonderfully entertaining due to the outstanding performances by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, both are worthy of oscar nominations.

Douglas succeeds at personifying Liberace perfectly and seemingly becoming just as charismatic, charming, and witty as the man himself. However, it could be said that Matt Damon's performance is even better, his character is going through an incomprehensiblely hard struggle; he is dealing with a failing relationship, an addiction, and a loss of identity, but Damon portrays this steadily and goes very deep into the emotions.

Now as for Soderbergh, his directing, as always, is very good and sets the right tone for the film, but it still isn't a masterpiece. And I think were all kind of waiting for Soderbergh's masterpiece and most personal film, but if he doesn't make it, I think he will be fine with calling Traffic and Sex, Lies, and Videotapes his masterpieces.

But as for Behind the Candelabra, it is a very entertaining film that has outstanding acting, very good directing, and a deep, thought-provoking screenplay that acts as the glue to this film. I definitely reccommend a viewing of this film.