A Fine Mess

The main reason for us to watch Stan & Ollie (2018) was to see Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly playing the title roles. Also, it’s funny, sweet and human.

It is essentially the story of Oliver and Hardy doing a tour of England while “between movies”. The quotes are because we can pretty much tell there won’t be any more movies. When they arrive, the find that the promoter, Rufus Jones, has pretty much cheaped out, booking them in small halls with minimum publicity, putting them up in rooming houses, etc. It’s a come down for the boys, but people they meet react warmly, thrilled to see the pair that they (or maybe their parents) love so much. And so it goes. It’s sad because they are playing small, half-empty houses, but not that sad, because the audiences are all cracking up. As they continue the tour, they start working the PR, making appearances, getting word of mouth, building up to the big London shows. There, their wives will come join them, and a producer will give them the go-ahead for the movie Stan has been writing.

Complications ensue. Babe (as everyone calls Oliver) is in bad health. Stan is nursing a grudge over the movie Ollie did without him years ago. Stan finds out the movie isn’t happening and doesn’t tell anyone. Money is tight, they break up, get back together, Ollie is hospitalized, but in the end, their friendship and the it love of the act holds them up. They finish the tour in Ireland to great acclaim.

Throughout, Coogan and Reilly inhabit Stan and Ollie almost perfectly. They do little bits of their routines, in real life and for (mostly) enchanted bystanders. They also show the pairs dynamic - Stan is the writer, the thinker, and Ollie is the easygoing, good time guy. They show the resentments and friendship. The wives are handled well - two very different women, with different temperaments who don’t seem to like each other much, but love and support their husbands.

Also, those little jokes and routines are fundamentally small, delicate, and sweet. The big finale is a little dance they do. Now, Ollie is in serious condition, recently off a heart attack and forbidden to exert in any way. I’ve never seen the performance of a silly dance presented as such a heroic accomplishment.