Review of Behind the Candelabra (2013) by Gareth J — 15 Jul 2013

Steven Soderbergh directed tart, poisoned valentine biopic about the King of Bling that tells the story of Liberace's relationship with Scott Thorson from its beginning to the bitter and public break up.

It is an uncanny and quite astounding impersonation of Liberace. Michael Douglas' impressive portrayal of the predatory and manipulative showman is charming, captivating, and sad as a character whose image is everything and the desire to never grow old has him constantly searching for the Fountain of Youth, be it those around him or a plastic surgeon's knife.

Matt Damon plays Scott Thorson brilliantly first as the young, innocent school boy who slowly transforms into a paranoid lover in a downward spiral of drug addiction. It's an extraordinary departure from his Bourne action hero role, for which he is most famous.

The wonderfully hilarious Rob Lowe should also be praised for his turn as the sinister nip and tuck doctor, Jack Startz, who turned both Liberace and Thorson into waxworks.

It's dark, it's funny, it's perfectly played. A thoroughly entertaining biopic of Liberace, the flamboyant Las Vegas pianist who was a superstar from the Fifties through to his death in 1987, at the age of 67. With its superb acting, sumptuous costumes and a director on top of his form, it's criminal this Liberace biopic won't win an Oscar.