To most people, Laurel and Hardy represents slapstick comedy featuring two guys in Bowler hats. Their story is the subject of a fantastic independent film that should be honored in Oscar season.
Stan & Ollie (Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly) – In the 1930s, one of the top box office draws was the comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy. Most people under 50 never heard of this team, whose last motion picture was almost 70 years ago. But these guys practically invented a genre starting with a series of short films in the days of silent movies and running through what is often called the Golden Age of film. Before Abbott & Costello, Martin and Lewis (that is Dean and Jerry for you youngsters), and even before Hope and Crosby, Brit Stan Laurel and American Ollie Hardy lit up the screen.
This exceptional film is not a biopic in the sense that it doesn’t tell the whole story of the comic icons. Instead, it opens in 1937 when Laurel and Hardy are at the top of their game shooting one of their last films for producer Hal Roach (Danny Huston). Laurel’s contract with the studio is expiring, and he knows that the duo isn’t being paid enough for the revenue coming in. Hardy, who was signed by Roach when he was an actor and not Stan’s partner, has time left on his contract and he is anything but a boat rocker. Stan is the businessman, a workaholic, and a comedy writing genius. He cracks Hardy up. Ollie is a nice guy who plays golf, bets on the horses, and just wants to be liked. A confrontation between Laurel and Roach leads to the breaking up of the team, at least for a while.
We flash forward 16 years – to 1953 – and Laurel and Hardy are doing stage shows across Great Britain while planning a comeback movie. Long forgotten by the post- WWII audiences, the duo seems as obsolete as Vaudeville while TV is budding.
At its heart, Stan & Ollie is a bromance, a love story of two people who can’t live without each other. In the winter of their careers, they face serious questions about health, relevance, and mortality.
The performances are transformative. John C. Reilly, who demonstrated his musical talent in Chicago, is over-the-top fantastic as Ollie. Steve Coogan, who usually plays zany and unhinged, shows his acting chops as Stan in the same way as he did in Philomena. The resemblance to the comedy team is uncanny. They have the famous gestures, the facial expressions, the memorable lines, and the interplay down cold. Both could very well be nominated during awards season.
This film likely won’t hit the independent theaters until early January but, if you can find it, please go see it. Though Laurel and Hardy were probably favorites of your parents and grandparents, their story is one for all ages.