Stan & Ollie

Directed by: Jon S. Baird

Written by: Jeff Pope
Cast: John C. Reilly, Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Nina Arianda

 

Swift shot: Everyone who has laughed at some point in their life owes a hat tip to the most iconic comedy duo to have ever lived: Laurel & Hardy. If you are not familiar with them, they were the first Abbott & Costello. And if you aren’t familiar with those guys, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the first Bert & Ernie; Harold & Kumar; Jay & Silent Bob; Penn & Teller; and maybe most recently; Deadpool & Dopinder.

 

I grew up watching them on Saturday morning re-runs before the cartoons started, and their comedy transcends language, culture, and modern life – it’s just funny, because these two worked so well together. Stan & Ollie focuses on that special relationship and how it endured despite some bad blood. Jeff Pope gives us a heartwarming story about the limits of friendship, love, and age, with a melancholy realization that all things must end . . . but the laughs live on.

 

The film starts in 1937, Hollywood where Laurel & Hardy have already made dozens of movies, more silent films, and are famous across the globe for their antics and the so-called double act. If you aren’t familiar, it’s that thing when you are doing a bit about doing an act, while doing an act. Breaking the fourth wall is the whole shtick. That in and of itself can be funny, but what made Laurel & Hardy special was their impeccable comedic . . . timing. They made everything look effortless, but in reality all their acts were done with a level of professional commitment that is lacking in many entertainers now. 

 

Despite their fame and fortune, they have their problems. Laurel (Coogan) is constantly losing his money in divorces, and Ollie (Reilly) has his issues with women, but he also likes to gamble quite a bit. Fed up with never having enough money, Stan Laurel decides to ask Hal Roach (Danny Huston) for a raise and is counting on Ollie Hardy to back up his efforts. But Ollie doesn’t, and to make matters worse, he performs with another actor in a film! What happens for the next sixteen years is left out of this movie, and we meet up with the duo again as they set out on a long tour to gain money and notoriety for their next film, a parody of Robin Hood.

 

I resisted the urge to search anything online about Laurel & Hardy prior to seeing this movie, and I suggest you do the same, as there is an element of suspense, will that Robin Hood film get made or won’t it? Oddly enough, the name of the producer of the film is Miffin, or Muffin. And he becomes the MacGuffin – Stan would have loved that element!

 

Anyway, it soon becomes obvious that their halcyon days are behind them, as they check into a tiny little Inn in the middle of nowhere, Newcastle in 1953. And that’s where the story centers around, this last tour they did for audiences and the toll it took on their friendship.

 

Solid performances by Coogan and Reilly make this worth a watch, with strong supporting work put in by both of the leading ladies who act as the catalyst to bring up old wounds that were never really addressed. Shirley Henderson plays Ollie’s wife, Lucille. She is terrified that Ollie’s heart can’t keep up the act much longer. On the other side is Ida Kitaeva Laurel (Nina Arianda), a woman determined to keep the show going. She isn’t evil or anything, she just understands how rare it is to be this exceptional at something, and she wants Stan to keep performing. Ida and Lucille could almost have their own film.

 

This movie made me nostalgic for classic comedy, but it also reminded me of old friendships, memories of laughs that have long since left me. Stan & Ollie might not speak to you directly, but if you have ever performed on stage, it will definitely resonate with you. Is it a laugh fest? No, not really, but it was an endearing reminder that these two old friends loved each other very much and there’s nothing wrong with that. And if you laugh a few times throughout, all the better.