Behind The Candelabra: DVD Review

Behind The Candelabra: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Everything's just a little bit fabulous and OTT in this biopic about Liberace.

Michael Douglas stars as Lee aka Liberace, and Matt Damon is Scott Thorson, whose memoir this is based on. In 1977, Thorson was working as an animal trainer when he met Liberace after an incredible performance on stage and ended up being inside his inner circle.

Gradually the two became lovers and Thorson, from a small American background, became wowed by the lifestyle. But along with the trappings of showbiz comes the excesses and soon Scott has a spiralling drug addiction which rages; but it's Liberace's promiscuity that ultimately causes friction within their relationship.

And things get even worse when Thorson's asked by Liberace to undergo plastic surgery to look more like him...

Behind The Candelabra is Steven Soderbergh's meisterwork, a biopic which is sensitive to the material around it and impressive in its execution. It's been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes and it's easy to see why.

Both Douglas and Damon are mightily impressive as their respective characters, with Douglas in particular catching the showmanship and monstrousness of the man down to a tee. Even Rob Lowe's scarily horrific plastic surgeon is a great character - the personas created on screen are no doubt perfect representations of who these people were but it's the commitment of the actors to the roles that makes Behind The Candelabra such a great watch.

From impressive outfits to great choreographed scenes, there's plenty to dazzle the eyeballs in this biopic which occasionally borders on the shallow as it plays on. All in all, while there's a bit of a lull towards the end of this, the whole film is going to be one which will be adored by some.

Expect to see it potentially get some awards next year.

Extras: Behind the scenes of

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