Stan & Ollie Review

Laurie and Hardy were one of the most famous comedy duos of the 20th century, making 106 films together. Their final days as professionals is explored in the biopic Stan & Ollie.

In 1953 Stan Laurie (Steve Coogan) and Ollie Hardy (John C. Reilly) embark on a music hall tour of the UK and Ireland with the hopes they can star in their own Robin Hood film. The tour faces numerous problems, from performing in undersold theatres, Hardy’s failing health, and an issue that affected their relationship 16-years prior.

Laurie and Hardy were famous for being an old-fashioned duo – they were masters of physical and slapstick comedy and they appealed to all demographics. Ollie & Stan embraces this old-fashion approach, making a standard yet effective biopic about the pair.

Stan & Ollie has a great talent working in front and behind the camera. The film was written by Jeff Pope and directed by Jon S. Baird. Pope has plenty of experience writing TV shows like Little Boy Blue and Cilla and his biggest film credit was Philomena. Stan & Ollie saw a marked change of pace for Baird whose previous films were about football hooliganism and a dark comedy about a corrupt police officer. Their previous work has shown that they can blur the lines between comedy and drama and that’s what they do with Stan & Ollie. Baird gave the film an ambitious start with a continuous shot where Laurie and Hardy walk from their dressing room to a film set. It hooks audiences in and Baird constantly shows his talent, capturing the atmosphere of the theatre and energy between the main characters.

Even off-stage Laurie and Hardy were a double act. They were always bouncing ideas off each other for comedy set-pieces and writing screenplays. They were in synch with each other and they constantly wanted to please their fans, even in their own free time. However, there is an underlying tension between the two because of the split that happened 16 years ago. Both feel betrayed by the other and it led to their career downturns. This split was down to their own faults – Hardy wanted to please everyone and needed the money, Laurie wanted more creative freedom but lacked the social skills. Both had strong reasoning behind their actions and neither were portrayed as being right or wrong. They needed each other personally and professionally.

Stan & Ollie needed two great actors to play the famous pair and the film got that with Coogan and Reilly. Like the writer and director Reilly is an actor who has skills in comedy and drama and he shows off both abilities. He is naturally humorous but he has to deal with many personal and physical issues. The make-up team did a tremendous job to make Reilly look like Hardy and he was able to perform through the extra pounds.

As well as looking at the relationship between the men Stan & Ollie also looks at their relationship with their wives. Lucille Hardy (Shirley Henderson) and Ida Kiteva Laurel (Nina Arianda) cared for their husbands in their special way. Hardy had a love for women but it usually ended in divorce. There was love between Ollie and Lucille and she looks out for her husband, knowing what condition he’s in. Ida was a no-nonsense type who had to stop her husband’s vices – as Laurel states the more he drinks the drunker she gets. Lucille and Ida were frenemies, they verbally sparred with each other but they knew when to support one another when it counts.

Another little aspect of Stan & Ollie is the role of producers – mainly that they are bastards who are either manipulative or cowards. The producers and promoters either force their actors to partake in projects that they don’t want to be in and if they have bad news avoid contact with the involved parties. This is an interesting take because Baird and Pope have worked as producers and know the challenges they face.

Stan & Ollie is a technically well-made film if a bit safe and has great actors doing what they do best in what is a loving tribute.