Review of Stan & Ollie

I was never a big fan of Laurel & Hardy. Sure, I had seen BABES IN TOYLAND and, of course, The Music Box (among other shorts). Didn't dislike them, but they never did create a large enough impact on me to investigate them further as opposed to Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd etc.. Fortunately, one of the most successful aspects of STAN & OLLIE is that you don't have to be a fan to enjoy it. While there are certainly special connections and subtle enjoyments to be had if you are, Jon Baird's movie doesn't use familiarity as a crutch. And, there aren't lots of loaded 'in jokes' that only members of the Sons of the Desert (a L&H fan group) will get. Jeff Pope's script plays just as well as a universal tale of artists in their twilight years. After a brief prologue set during their heyday, we find Stan (Steve Coogan) and Ollie (John C Reilly) on the road in England in the 1950s. Their career is on the downside and they are no longer playing in major theaters (nor full houses), nor staying at the best hotels. They have been promised that a comeback feature film about Robin Hood awaits them. The tour struggles lead us into a deeper understanding of the duo, and leads to one inescapable observation - while they were longtime collaborators, they were never intimate friends. Those personal schisms are only exacerbated once their spouses join them on the road. Shirley Henderson (Mrs. Hardy) and Nina Arianda (Mrs. Laurel) are just as different from each other as their spouses (the pair of actresses form their own terrific thespian duo). Still, out of all the conflict, Stan and Ollie have a deeper bond that ties them together beyond mere pleasantries - it's a genuine love story. A bond based on loyalty more than simple social graces. STAN & OLLIE is told in an, appropriately, old fashioned manner. Nothing groundbreaking stylistically and without the wink-wink modernism of so many bio-pics which often go out of their way to "prove" they are hipper than their subject. Coogan and Reilly create real magic on screen. While they may not be a perfect replica of the real duo, they still manage to make a believable team - not just on stage, but, in their friendship. STAN & OLLIE is a short and (bitter)sweet movie that is happy to just tell it's humble story (all of 97 minutes). But, it does it very well. A charmer.