I didn't care for it. I agree with:
>
I couldn't take that film seriously. As I said, it teeter tottered on the brink. It could have gone one way and been serious, or the other way and gone camp. I thought Michael Douglas was too afraid of the kissing scenes. He did the kind of "stage kisses" we used to do in Junior High plays (where you turn your head to "cover", and then kiss anywhere but on the lips) in his first scenes.
In Matt Damon's first "butt" scene (getting out of the hot tub), Douglas averts his gaze as if Damon weren't even there. Completely unrealistic for a character the movie keeps insisting is a complete horn dog. If it were me, my eyes would be glued to his package as he stands up in the tub - it's MATT "F*cking" DAMON (to quote Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel)!!
ALL of the characters were more caricature than believable. Rob Lowe's plastic surgeon was sooooooo hyper exaggerated that he bore absolutely no resemblance to the real man, who was actually more on the handsome side:
When the make-up is that far from reality, what should I think about the characterization? (EDIT: that "thing" they put on Michael Douglas' head in his first bald scene, in the bathroom was
horrendous - especially the first time Douglas turned his head to profile...)
But maybe that's what Soderberg was trying to do; to let us know that we shouldn't take Scott Thorson's book too seriously. My problem though is in reading all the comments here by folks who LOVED the movie and thought its characters and the acting were "real".
Something's not right. Either Soderberg, Lowe, or I didn't get this movie right. Maybe all three of us got it wrong.
I enjoyed watching Liberace's last public appearance on
Oprah much, much better. That was the
real "Mr. Showbiz". (Is that an oxymoron?) It was filmed in November, but aired on Christmas Day, 1986, about a month before he died.
Liberace on OPRAH 3 Months Before He Died
Updated On: 5/27/13 at 09:00 PM
