Review of Behind the Candelabra (2013) by Gabriel D — 27 May 2013

Soderbergh's put together a biopic that's remarkably focused. It does fall victim to the usual tropes of the genre (the downward spiral, the repeating arguments, etc.), but that's a small quibble.

Soderbergh lets LaGravenese's solid screenplay tell most of the story, and its nice to be able to linger in scenes well after most directors would frenetically cut to the next event. Damon and Douglas have great chemistry (Douglas gives his best performance in years as Liberace) and Rob Lowe gets an honorable mention for his terrifying performance/face.

I never thought a film about Liberace's final decade would work as a tragic love story of sorts, but it makes the finale more moving than one might expect.