Steve Coogan

STAN & OLLIE: comic geniuses facing the inevitable

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Left to right: Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel, John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy,
Photo by Nick Wall, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

In Stan & Ollie, Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy deliver remarkable portraits of a partnership facing the inevitability of showbiz decline. An iconic movie comedy team, Laurel and Hardy made 107 films, including 23 features. Their run started in 1926 and made the transition into the sound era more successfully than their peers in silent comedy. But by 1945, their popularity was over, and most of Stan & Ollie is set in 1951, when they are trying to rekindle their careers with a British live tour.

Coogan and Reilly’s impersonations (and Reilly’s makeup) are impressive. However, the most interesting aspect to Stan & Ollie is the depiction of the partnership, which like any partnership, is unequal and complementary; each individual has a different personality and a different role. Together, their act was so seamless that we forget that the two, one English and the other from Georgia, were veteran professionals already in their mid-thirties when they hooked up. Hardy was bossy on-screen, but Laurel was the business and creative leader of the team.

In a flashback (during the 1937 filming of Way Out West), we see the two at the height of their career arc. That sets us up to watch the two manage struggle and disappointment later on.

The technical highlight of the Coogan and Reilly performances is a dead-on re-creation of Stan and Ollie’s dance in front of an Old West saloon in Way Out West, a dance which is comic perfection; it’s worth finding Way Out West for the original version of the dance, which is much longer. My own favorite Laurel & Hardy film is the 1933 Pre-Code Sons of the Desert, where the duo mislead their wives to sneak off to the rowdy convention/drinkfest of the titular fraternal organization.

As usual I’ve embedded the trailer for you, but I recommend not watching it if you’re going to see Stan & Ollie – it gives too much away.

THE TRIP TO SPAIN: 100 minutes of laughs, travel, food in a 115-minute movie

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Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in THE TRIP TO SPAIN
In The Trip to Spain, comics Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan play caricatures of themselves assigned to a gourmet road trip, just as in The Trip and The Trip to Italy.  Both masters of impressions and improvisation, the amiable Brydon and the snootily competitive (but needy) Coogan banter their way through delectable Spanish cuisine.  One of the franchise’s running gags is Coogan’s constant name-dropping and one-upmanship, which begs Brydon to deflate him.

Brydon’s wonderful impressions of Sean Connery and Michael Caine are legendary, and Coogan is no slouch.  They do impressions of Marlon Brando and Robert Deniro, and mimic across the British acting greats John Hurt, Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Holdern.  Brydon even “does” Mick Jagger doing Michael Caine and Jagger playing Shakespeare’s Shylock.

In one of the funniest bits, a lunchtime reference to the “Moors in Spain” sparks a Rob Brydon marathon of ROGER Moore riffs; as Coogan and their companions try in vain to change the subject, Brydon is hilariously unstoppable.

There are plenty of other laughs, too, as  Coogan tries to pronounces the French name “Aurore” and Brydon quips that the Spanish Inquisition was launched by a “Catalytic Converter”.  They even refuse to pass up the obvious joke about Herb Alpert’s Spanish Flea.

As in the other Trip movies, the travel and food porn is exquisite.  They cross Spain from the Basque country, through the dinosaur sites of Rioja, the Don Quixote heritage of  La Mancha, the streets of Cuenca and the marvels of Granada, ending in Malaga.   I didn’t notice any green vegetables until their fifth day of eating (always fine by me).  (However, Spain’s ubiquitous jamón doesn’t show up until their final day.)

Frankly, Brydon’s and Coogan’s improvisations are reason enough to make (and see) one of these movies.  Unfortunately,  someone felt the need to focus the final 15 minutes of The Trip to Spain on the contrast between Brydon’s happly family life and Coogan’s disconnected loneliness and his career and personal insecurities.  Blaaaaaaaaaah.  Snooooooze.

So it’s simple:  go see The Trip to Spain and, when the characters say goodbye to each other in Malaga – leave the theater.

THE DINNER: emotional potboiler

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THE DINNER
THE DINNER

In the emotional potboiler The Dinner, Richard Gere plays Stan, a Congressman under a whole lot of pressure. His career-topping legislation is up for a vote tomorrow and he a few votes short. He’s navigating the perils of the 24-hour news cycle as he runs for Governor. And a scandal from his own family is threatening to erupt. It doesn’t look like he’s going to get much help from Kate (Rebecca Hall), his self-described trophy wife, who is very tightly wound.

Stan’s brother Paul (Steve Coogan) knows about pressure because his wife’s Claire cancer episode crushed him into a mental breakdown. He’s out of the asylum, but he’s still a basket case, clinging to a modest level of functionality. Claire (Laura Linney) is now able to run the family, and she’s a rock.

Now the four of them meet at an exclusive and trendy restaurant to discuss how to handle a family crisis. Paul can’t get over his resentment and jealousy of Stan. To describe the plot of the The Dinner as a family meal is like calling The Revenant the story of a hike in the woods. Accustomed to making deals in politics, Stan has to work things out with two hyper-protective mother bears and a volatile and hostile loony. Is Kate really shallow and brittle? She may surprise us as one tough tough-as-nails negotiator. And what is Claire really capable of to protect her child? The pressure builds and builds, all the way up to a shattering and ambiguous ending.

Coogan sheds his usual smugness and delivers a stunning portrait of mental illness. His Paul has the all-time movie meltdown in a high school classroom, and another amazing monologue given to an empty classroom. He has pathetically grasping conversations with a son who now only patronizes him. Coogan’s searing performance is reason enough to see The Dinner.

The Dinner is also a showcase for Linney, Gere and Hall. Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave, The Big Short) is excellent (and realistic) as Gere’s never-off-duty chief of staff. Chloe Sevigny nails a character who has the knack of saying exactly the wrong thing to defuse an awkward situation.  The always interesting Michael Chernus provides chuckles as the restaurant’s ringmaster, who presents one pretentious course after another. The restaurant’s locally sourced and extravagantly presented food does look and sound delicious, even if each dish is so overly precious.

The Dinner explores a very thorny philosophical question: what is the parental responsibility to help a child who has done something unforgivable?  Is it better to let him face harsh consequences, even if it will ruin much of his life? Or is it better to help him avoid those consequences so he can get a second chance at a normal life?

I went to see The Dinner because it was directed by (and its screenplay adapted by) Oren Moverman, and I very much admired Moverman’s The Messenger and Rampart. He has a gift for getting great performances from his cast and for portraying the moments in life that are the most emotionally explosive.

DVD/Stream of the Week: THE TRIP TO ITALY – wit, more wit and amazing food

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Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in THE TRIP TO ITALY
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in THE TRIP TO ITALY

The smart and hilarious The Trip to Italy showcases the improvisational wit of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, along with some serious tourism/foodie porn. As in The Trip, the two British comics are sent off on a hedonistic road trip to review spectacular restaurants – this time in Italy’s most stunningly beautiful destinations. Along the way, they needle each other and virtually any occurrence can trigger a very funny riff. As in The Trip, they compete for the funniest Michael Caine impression; but this time, their funniest impression is of a harried Assistant Director trying to give notes to the mask-wearing Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises.

And – if you enjoy travel and fine dining – the restaurant scenes are unsurpassed. The Trip to Italy is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

THE TRIP TO ITALY: wit, more wit and amazing food

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Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in THE TRIP TO ITALY
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in THE TRIP TO ITALY

The smart and hilarious The Trip to Italy showcases the improvisational wit of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, along with some serious tourism/foodie porn.   As in The Trip, the two British comics are sent off on a hedonistic road trip to review spectacular restaurants – this time in Italy’s most stunningly beautiful destinations.  Along the way, they needle each other and virtually any occurrence can trigger a very funny riff.  As in The Trip, they compete for the funniest Michael Caine impression; but this time, their funniest impression is of a harried Assistant Director trying to give notes to the mask-wearing Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises.

And – if you enjoy travel and fine dining – the restaurant scenes are unsurpassed.

DVD/Stream of the Week: Philomena

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The title character in Philomena, is an Irish woman who was shipped off to the nuns as a pregnant teen and whose toddler was adopted without her genuine consent. Now over forty years later, she wants to find what has happened to her son. Philomena (Judi Dench) is a simple woman, whose deep faith has been unable to resolve her sense of loss. She enlists a British journalist (Coogan) to help her in the investigation. The journalist takes them on a journey that finds her answers – and some of those answers are wholly unexpected.

The nuns in the 1950s flashback are cartoonishly nasty, contrasted with their modern counterparts – just as evil but with slickly modern PR skills. Philomena’s faith enables her victimhood, but then an act of transcendence reveals her to be the most Christian character.

Of course, Dench is always excellent, but Coogan’s performance shows an unexpected range. His character has just had his high-flying career derailed and has lost the smug confidence that Coogan’s characters usually impart.

Director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things, The Queen) has a big success with Philomena, a nice rebound from his most recent efforts (Tamara Drewe, Lay the Favorite). Philomena is an emotionally satisfying success.

Philomena is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Philomena: an emotionally satisfying gem

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The title character in Philomena, is an Irish woman who was shipped off to the nuns as a pregnant teen and whose toddler was adopted without her genuine consent.  Now over forty years later, she wants to find what has happened to her son.  Philomena (Judi Dench) is a simple woman, whose deep faith has been unable to resolve her sense of loss.  She enlists a British journalist (Coogan) to help her in the investigation.  The journalist takes them on a journey that finds her answers – and some of those answers are wholly unexpected.

The nuns in the 1950s flashback are cartoonishly nasty, contrasted with their modern counterparts – just as evil but with slickly modern PR skills.  Philomena’s faith enables her victimhood, but then an act of transcendence reveals her to be the most Christian character.

Of course, Dench is always excellent, but Coogan’s performance shows an unexpected range.  His character has just had his high-flying career derailed and has lost the smug confidence that Coogan’s characters usually impart.

Director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things, The Queen) has a big success with Philomena, a nice rebound from his most recent efforts (Tamara Drewe, Lay the Favorite).   Philomena is an emotionally satisfying success – the unexpected gem of Fall 2013.

The Look of Love: someday this will all be yours

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Imogen Poots and Steve Coogan in THE LOOK OF LOVE

In the biopic The Look of Love, Steve Coogan plays porn king Paul Raymond, once Britain’s richest man.  Raymond turned a tawdry row of Soho strip clubs into an empire of smut magazines.  (Sharing a $500 million fortune, Raymond’s two granddaughters are the youngest of Britain’s 100 richest women.)

Now here’s the problem with the movie – Raymond’s life has many aspects – each worthy of a movie in its own right – including his business ascent, his gift for publicity and his marriage to and divorce from his ex-wife Jean.  Most singular is his indifferent relationship with his two sons, contrasted with his affection for his anointed successor and heir, his daughter Debbie; not every guy aspires to apprentice his daughter in the porn industry.  The Look of Love touches on them all, but doesn’t delve deeply enough into any one.

Imogen Poots (Solitary Man, Greetings from Tim Buckley) has the most interesting character of Debbie, but there’s not enough of her.  Still, what IS contained in The Look of Love makes for an interesting story hitherto unfamiliar to us non-Brits.

The Look of Love is streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Sundance Now and other VOD outlets.

The Trip: duelling Michael Caines

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Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take a foodie road trip through the north of England.  Brydon is a compulsive impressionist, and he speaks more often in the voices of Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton, et al than in his own.  That’s entertaining, but when Coogan provokes a duel with their Michael Caine and Sean Connery impressions, it gets even more funny.

Along the way, they dine at some pretty tasty looking restaurants, but always with an edge:  “It has the consistency of snot, but it tastes great”.  There is definitely some food porn, but not quite enough to make my list of 10 Food Porn Movies.