Stan and Ollie [Blu-ray] [2019]

This is a beautifully made movie, with Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly utterly believable in the roles of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Gets the feel of early-1950s Britain perfectly and tells a story that is in turns beautiful, poignant and sad. It's not a biopic as such, but rather uses a collage of real events and characters and fiction to superb effect. I can watch this again and again

I remember the many times I'd sit on a school day evening watching either Laurel and Hardy or Harold Lloyd from the silent era on BBC2 just before shows like The Young Ones, Top Of The Pops would show on BBC1.This is a really nice telling of the time that Ollie and Stan embarked on a UK tour of theatres in the the twilight of their career! It is post war Britian, their popularity was slowly subsiding due to colour movies, longer, more exciting movies were being made and special effects were moving on so dramatically.The slapstick comedy era was apparently at an end, or so the world thought!Before the 50's Ollie and Stan could fill cinemas easily, they had the slapstick visual comedy genre firmly in their sights and they really knew how to mine for the gags They were the kings of the genre!They were literally inseparable, Ollie would be the straight man to Stan's simple funny man (who always messed things up, or so Ollie's characters would have us believe!). They often lived almost in and out of each others pockets for many years whilst Stan wrote the material, and worked on many new ideas for gags, movies, often directing some of the movies and shorts.This movie shows the other side of the coin, they were in the twilight of their lives, and career. They quite literally did everything to push their image back to the top, using old gags from their movies in these theatre shows, often to very small audiences but the momentum soon builds and the tour becomes a huge hit! The break up of the marriage of Ollie and Stan is quite apparently taking its toll on Stan and Ollie. Ollie is already showing the signs of failing health, the pair work a grueling schedule to travel around on trains and boats to the various locations of the UK and Ireland to play shows, give personal appearances, make public information films for the UK. It was to be their most enduring and hugely successful, farewell tour!The love of these two men for each other clearly shines through at many points of the movie, but you can also see the tensions building as they feel their lives and their careers and no longer theirs. They love performing, if they didn't, they feel they have nothing else to contribute to the world!At the beginning of the movie, you can see these two comedy legends have an uncertain future ahead of them, the ghosts of the past, Stan desperately trying to secure a movie deal with Hollywood, this doesn't happen, having to break the news to his companion and lifelong comedy partner that the movie isn't going to happen. They work their magic around the country, slowly building larger and larger audiences, they also gain new fans as they go!This sometimes sad but very sweet telling of Stan and Ollie's swansong is a must for any fan! It can also bring much younger fans into the fold!John C Reilly and Steve Coogan are almost unbelievably realistic! They could honestly remake the full back catalogue of Laurel and Hardy movies and you might not even be able to tell it isn't the real Stan and Ollie! FANTASTIC MOVIE!!

Set in the 1950s when Laurel and Hardy were no longer superstars, this film is based on their tour of the UK and Ireland playing small theatres and venues when career wise their backs were up against the wall. Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C Reilly as Oliver Hardy are uncanny in both in their appearance and in the depictions of the various sketches. Despite the initial near desperation, they both triumph having a late flourish and showing they still had the ability and popularity. Provided you aren't expecting a biopic of their whole career and take this film as it is described then you will be both informed and entertained by it. Funny and yet very poignant in parts it is a great work, touching on things thst happened between Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy I just wasn't aware of before. My recently decesed father was a huge Laurel and Hardy fan and would have loved to have seen it.And I had howls of laughter but tears of sadness watching it.A minor criticism is that the Blu ray is literally the disk, the case and the cover..no digital voucher, not even a leaflet inside with more info. As a modern film, picture and sound quality are of course top notch.This is worth buying as a disk, as it is cheaper than the HD download as things stand.Totally recommended.

I almost passed this one by as in truth Laurel and Hardy's hey-day was really before my time, although I did see several short B-Movies at the Saturday Morning Cinema club which often included the double-act, think back in the 50's I was more taken with The Goon Show and Norman Wisdom.The film sees Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver (Ollie) Hardy take on a British Tour in 1953 after a period of inactivity between the two.....the tour organised by Bernard Delfont is poorly attended early on as the impresario had only booked small less prominent venues and had not really promoted the tour well, however after a few widely seen promotions things take off for the hugely talented comic geniuses.With their partners about to link up with them on tour, Stan and Ollie have to upgrade their hotel arrangementsHowever, what Stan sees as betrayal some years earlier resurfaces causing friction between them, but they continue their commitments.Sadly whilst judging a beauty-show Ollie falls ill and will be told he would not be able to carry on performing.However, Ollie will leave his sick-bed to try and do the Ireland leg of the tour.Despite their past differences Stan and Ollie really were great friends.Must admit, the film not only highlights some of the duo's stage performances it also tells a very human story about their relationship..... the film is often hilarious, but also quite poignant.In my opinion, whether a fan or not of the comics the film is well worthy of viewing and indeed like myself owning.

Very touching film with great chemistry between the lead actors and superb performances. It was like Stan and Ollie had come back to life. It's a story of their later years trying to revive some success and pay the bills. They are very different but there's mutual respect and admiration, despite learning to live with their differences. Behind the scenes films like this are a little window into the real life of those we see only when performing and for that alone this is really engaging. It's darkly funny, touching and heartfelt but both Coogan And Reilly absolutely nail the characters they play in every detail. It really is uncanny