“Stan & Ollie” Has Gotten Us into a Great Movie

Release Date：Dec/28/2018
Genre：Biography/Comedy/Drama
Director：Jon S. Baird
Cast：John C. Reilly、Steve Coogan、Shirley Henderson、Nina Arianda、Danny Huston

Viola's Rating：8.2







Everyone more or less needs some laughter in daily life; therefore, comedic drama has always been one of the most popular genres, and during 1920s to 1950s, the golden age of silent feature films, many comic actors rose to fame during the era including the celebrated Charlie Chaplin. Along with this eminent legend, there’s also a comedy double act performing during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. A biopic made by BBC about this famous team, Laurel and Hardy, was released in the UK on Jan 11, 2019 and in the US on Dec 28, 2018.

Based on the later years of the lives of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, the film depicts how this world's most famous double act, attempt to reignite their careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song – an arduous theatre tour of post-war Britain.

As a biographical comedic drama, “Stan & Ollie” resurrects a bunch of classical gags of Laurel and Hardy, including the one in short film “County Hospital”, feature film “Way out West”, their signature tune during opening credits "The Dance of the Cuckoos" and their reception in Ireland. Aficionados will find these familiar jokes nostalgic and audience who didn’t know the duo before gets to know them through their most famous performances.

Comedy double acts are widely seen in China, Germany, Japan, North America and UK, and often times, one of the members is “the straight man” while the other is “the funny man”, and together they present gags for laughter. In “Stan & Ollie”, we even see the legendary cartoon violence using slapstick in “County Hospital”. Although the comedy duo is known as “Laurel and Hardy”, the flick is called “Stan & Ollie”, which not only provides a more personal sensation that takes moviegoers to look at the noted partners from backstage, but also lets the audience have a peek at how different and opposite they are on and off the stage. For example, Hardy is the dead wood of the double act, and Laurel is the banana man; however, in real life, Hardy’s usually the carefree one, while Laurel does the writing and takes care of most of their tour.

Instead of portraying their peak years, “Stan & Ollie” focuses on their last tour in Europe which transformed their friendship level from colleagues to family members. Sometimes, not that we don’t cherish people close to us, but we’re used to them, only when it’s time to part from each other do we realize how important we are to one another. The motion picture represents this idea very clearly, and brings tears to moviegoers’ eyes.

Just like Laurel and Hardy are irreplaceable for each other, their legacy will always be remembered, and thanks to movies like “Stan & Ollie”, which has gotten us into a great expedition with both legends and enjoy some laughter.

Picture Credit: IMDb