Behind the Candleabra: Danny's Take

This is a biopic of someone I've hardly heard of, but that doesn't matter. Liberace is a crazy character, and that's what makes the film fun, and what made Lincoln boring. Lincoln's idea of humour is a lengthy story about a portrait of George Washington. But Michael Douglas plays Liberace in a free and wild way, and you can't take your eyes off him.

My favourite bit is when Liberace and Matt Damon, both dressed in glitzy suits and enormous white fur coats, take the limousine to a seedy gay porn shop. They're stoned out their minds, and Matt Damon collapses in a hallway. After a second Liberace pops his head up from behind a door, and spots his friend lying there. In a camp and childish sing-song voice he asks innocently "Hey, what you doooo-ing?" He's absolutely mad.

The story starts with Matt Damon playing Scott, a country bumpkin, who gets lured into Liberace's Vegas lifestyle. There's some rather uncomfortable moments when Liberace is looking him over like a sexual predator, and soon enough Scott becomes his latest live-in lover. Surprisingly, it turns out that Liberace is actually fairly well grounded, and knows what he wants in life. It's Scott who gets addicted to Rob Lowe's prescription drugs and goes off the rails.

It's fascinating to watch the relationship unfold on the big screen. Although of course the official message was that Liberace wasn't gay, and was just "waiting for that special woman", we get to see everything in his private life. There's a thrill of voyeurism, seeing into his dressing room and bedroom. You even get to see the plastic surgery, which is pretty unpleasant and I had to look away. It's a smart idea inviting us to stare, acknowledging that celebrities really do get work done to their faces.

The asymmetry of Scott and Liberace's relationship proves too much in the end, and Scott goes the way of the others and gets kicked out the big house. There's a slight lull when you think the movie might be over now, but then a decent epilogue when Scott sues Liberace, then gets a minimum wage job and a haircut. Years later Liberace calls him up from his deathbed to say that of all the men in his life, Scott was the best one. I'm not sure if I like this - I prefer to think of Scott being just another guy who gets sucked in by Liberace's charisma. I expect this scene about how special Scott is was invented either by Scott himself, on whose memoirs this might be based, or by the film-makers.

There's a lot of sympathy for Liberace, and I'm glad that his demise is from dying, rather than just fading into obscurity. It's what he would have wanted. It's a bit like William Shatner, desperate to keep working and stay famous for as long as possible, and people loving him for it.