ANDY LEA’S BIG SCREEN
THE bowler hats are a snug fit for Steve Coogan and John C Reilly in this lovely drama about Laurel and Hardy’s 1952 UK theatrical tour.
The Hollywood duo’s songs, dances and slapstick routines are so meticulously recreated it feels like you’re watching the real Stan & Ollie.
But the film isn’t just out to tickle our funny bones. At its heart, this is a tear-jerking love story, albeit about two straight men in their 60s.
Director Jon S Baird (Filth) and writer Jeff Pope (Philomena) are quite a double act too.
A more obvious biopic would have focused on their glory years and found drama in the power struggles and scandals of Hollywood’s golden age.
Baird and Pope give us only the briefest of glimpses of their heyday in a smart opening sequence.
It’s 1937 and Laurel and Hardy are the biggest comedy stars in the world. In a single take, Baird’s camera follows them from their dressing room to a sound stage.
Ollie (Reilly), or Babe to his friends, has gambled his way through his pay packet and the determined Stan wants him to back him up in negotiating a more lucrative contract with producer Hal Roach (Danny Huston).
After the discussion with Roach descends into a furious row, Stan casually ushers Ollie in front of a Wild West backdrop and tells the director precisely where to place his camera.
Then they break into that endearing jig from Way Out West. This is last we see of comic actors Coogan and Reilly. From here on they will completely disappear into the roles of Laurel and Hardy.
We jump forward 15 years to see the aftermath of Stan’s hardline stance with the studio.
As the pair arrive at a downtrodden theatre in Newcastle, onlookers are shocked to see them in the flesh. People assumed they had retired years ago and that the poster for their show was advertising a tribute act.
Their fortunes begin to change when promoter Bernard Delfont (a funny Rufus Jones) arranges a series of publicity stunts for the newsreels. The venues gradually get bigger and the pair feel it’s time to invite their wives to the UK.
Nina Arianda and Shirley Henderson form another great double act as the squabbling Mrs Laurel and Hardy, providing welcome comic relief when their husbands’ relationship takes a more serious turn.
By the end, it has almost become a second honeymoon for the ageing double act. As Ollie’s health fails and Stan’s film project hits the rocks, they fall in love again.
Baird ends his film where he began, with the real Laurel and Hardy dancing in Way Out West. It’s as funny as it was 80 years ago, but now they are dancing to a slightly different tune.
If you’re watching this wonderful tribute with the right audience, the singing cowboys will be joined by a chorus of gentle sobs.