Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Charlize
Theron
Cert: 15
Released:1st October 2004
An HBO bio-pic of the comedy
genius based on the biography of the same name by Roger Lewis.
Whether you think Peter Sellers
is funny or not is irrelevant; it cannot be disputed that he is regarded as a
comedy legend. What we have here is a film detailing his rise from BBC radio on
The Goon Show to international
stardom via the Pink Panther films
and some of the impetuses that encouraged him along the way.
Sellers was one of these
comedians who was labelled a tortured genius; externally he could make millions
laugh, but inside he was a wreck and The
Life And Death shows all his character flaws and dysfunctional
characteristics. Possibly, because of that, the film seems to be distinctly
lacking of any real humour. Yes there are laughs to be had as many of Sellers’
finest characters are used for relief purposes but generally it’s all rather
depressing.
You get an impression of a man
who was molly-coddled, selfish, arrogant, prone to tantrums, naive, and at times
actually mentally unstable. Of course, how accurate this portrayal is, is up to
the audience to decide but it certainly seems more credible by the ‘snapshots’
of history as if snippets of his life were scripted based on the first hand
reports of his friends, family and colleagues. Whatever; it’s not a flattering
film which concentrates more on the inside neuroses than on his ability to make
people laugh.
I cannot fault the performances;
Rush looks and sounds perfect as Sellers in all his guises and Charlize Theron
gave an excellent performance as Britt Ekland (although I am ignorant as to know
whether this is what she is really like). Other notable appearances include
Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick, John Lithgow as Blake Edwards and Stephen Fry
as a psychic to the stars. But why weren’t there any decent scenes with the
other Goon members?
I left this film with doubt. I
don’t know whether Sellers was as truly gifted as history has made him out to
be. Was he a genius or was he just a troubled soul who was given some very good
material to work with (the film does focus on a ‘down’ period in Sellers’ film
career when he churned out a series of critical and commercial flops)? On top of
that, The Life And Death didn’t make
me want to go back and watch Sellers’ films again because there was never any
real coverage of how good they were. I can’t imagine that anyone who doesn’t
know Sellers would be bothered either.
The Life And Death is a fascinating look
at who the man might really have been but must be taken with a pinch of salt for
fear of permanently debasing a critical piece of British comedy
history.
