Behind the Candelabra USA 2013 – 118min.

Movie Rating

Behind the Candelabra

Movie Rating: Constantin Xenakis

A pretty boy working in Hollywood becomes Liberace's lover. Starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

After a childhood spent in various foster homes, Scott (Matt Damon) works as an animal trainer and vet on Hollywood sets. Through a friend, he quickly catches the eye of Liberace (Michael Douglas), the flamboyant pianist whose Las Vegas concerts regularly sell out to an aging female public. Scott moves in with Liberace, much to the disappointment of his adoptive parents, and discovers that the great celebrity is an egocentric queen who lives in a huge mansion surrounded by the ultimate in kitsch. He is also a fervent Catholic who is paranoid, jealous and considers himself to be equal to Arthur Rubinstein and Frédéric Chopin. Not used to the level of comfort and the attention he gets from Liberace, Scott doesn't know whether he will soon be replaced or whether Liberace really does love him – as he repeatedly claims – and will adopt him as promised...

In the 1990's, Michael Douglas became an international star amid stories of misdemeanors (to excuse cheating on his wife, he sought treatment for “sexual addiction”) and thanks to playing the macho stud in a series of blockbuster thrillers (Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and Disclosure). Completely against type and without resorting to caricature, in Behind the Candelabra Douglas plays the quintessential queen who sets his sights (and a few other things) on Matt Damon (also excellent). One can only hope that this is not, as Steven Soderbergh recently announced, the director's last film...

20.03.2024

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