Review of Being There (1979) by Facebook U — 25 Jun 2017

Incredibly well-crafted and excellently performed. "Being There" is hilarious throughout, but it goes so far beyond just simply being silly. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of silliness. I don't know if there was a single scene that didn't make me giggle. But the way the film is structured, and the way it cares for its characters and everything it establishes makes it transcend genre. However, this is also why I can't give it a perfect score, despite loving the film. I'll explain...

NOTE: Upcoming minor technical spoilers, unrelated to the plot.

During the whole two hour runtime, we're made familiar with the world and societies within the film, and we're made to care about every event, and for every character that the cast so brilliantly portrays. And then, for whatever reason, all that emotion we have built up inside us is thrown away by the end credits featuring a blooper reel playing behind them. I can't wrap my head around how anyone actually approved this choice. I'd heard rumors about an "end credits scene" not fitting the tone of the film, but I had no idea it was this bad until I actually saw it. The film makes Chance feel like a real person, and then they crap all over that by showing us Peter Sellers screwing up takes and laughing alongside an entire crew, right at the end of the film. I also thought the strange, jazzy "2001: A Space Odyssey" theme that played near the beginning was a bad choice, tonally. But that's nothing compared to the credits stunt they pulled. Don't get me wrong, I still love the film. I'm just blown away by how little the filmmakers respected everything they created.