Review of Being There (2011) by Kylie P — 04 Jan 2010

Being There is a clever satire ultimately painting politicians as men of happenstance, no more or less knowledgeable than the illiterate Chauncey aka Chance the gardener. The situations in which Chance finds himself become all the more incredible and, hence, laughable, as he gains only kernels of understanding while the rest of the world sees him as an understated genius. With Peter Sellers in this role, the film became something ethereal in its subtle sublimity. It was one of those rare performances that makes the viewer want to laugh out loud except for the bits of doubt and discomfort preventing the situation from being totally funny and just plain uncomfortable. The story concept is wonderfully original.

The execution of such an original story, however, experiences at least one problem. The film is frightfully slow, partially due to Sellers' careful delivery of each of Chauncey's short responses and partially because the story does not develop in a traditional way, even if it ultimately develops in a complete and believable way. Chauncey is the central figure, and the film follows his exploits, but he is really only a bystander in these grand games of chance (it's not just an ironic name). Thus, the "action," so to speak is driven by the reactions of the Rands and their friends and acquaintances, and they are not as rivetingly funny or any less awkward than Sellers' performance. The romantic tension between Eve and Chance (including one uncomfortable scene in which Lady MacLaine must pleasure herself because Chauncey keeps insisting that he likes to watch...though he means the television) is mostly awkward. It's laughable in only that most awkward, nervous way. In fact, the entire story is told in episodes like this one but at the pace in which Chauncey moves through life, which is ploddingly careful, so the lethargic pace grew a bit tedious by the film's conclusion.

The conclusion is also something of a puzzle. If the ending could be taken as a literal reveal, the film takes on quite a different meaning. If the ending is mere symbolism, the symbolism extends the film's meaning to all new and interesting depths and profundity. It's haunting, to say the least.

All in all, the performances, especially by Sellers but also by the entire ensemble, were wonderful, and the direction by Ashby was superb. His use of camera angles to capture the various reactions at Chauncey's enigmatic pearls of wisdom and the dramatic pauses used to play out the unexpectedness of those reactions were really quite expert and elicited the most sincere laughs. Plus, the film's ultimate message is highly profound, meaningful, and uplifting, and it may be worth Being There (ahem) to watch the film for that alone.