Review of Being There (1979) by Dan D — 07 Oct 2011
A missed opportunity on two fronts:
One - the concept had so much potential for biting satire. It sort of tries to make a point, but it just feels bland and watered down.
Two - the concept had so much potential to be funny. The film isn't funny at all. Tonally, it starts out like a classic '80s fish-out-of-water comedy, but that soon dissolves into a series of sequences of people talking, none of which are particularly smart of funny or anything.
It's not a bad film, but nothing abut it, spare the final 10 seconds that come out of nowhere and therefore don't gel with the rest of the film, is particularly remarkable. Even Peter Sellers' supposedly incredibly performance isn't too special. It's not bad, but all he does is say every line slowly and with no emotion. It's about equal to say David Walliams' performance as the "computer says no" woman on 'Little Britain'. Very well played, but one-note, and lacking in depth.
But all in all it's not exactly a dull film. It sort of works at what it tries to do... a little bit, anyway. It's just odd that it's as highly revered as it is given that there's nothing special about it.
6/10.
This review of Being There (1979) was written by Dan D on 07 Oct 2011.
Being There has generally received very positive reviews.
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