11/18/2023 0 Comments Peter sellers being thereJack Warden provides some funny bits as the President, whose anxiety over this newly discovered statesman makes him impotent with his wife (Alice Hirson). Douglas is quite good as her husband, who gives Sellers his new start in life, and Richard Dysart is impressive as the family doctor. It’s a glamorous characterization and MacLaine develops it most appealingly. MacLaine adds marvelous presence and stature to the role of his benefactor, whose affection gradually turns to desire. It’s a deceptively simple performance, but it is essentially the core and substance of the film. Sellers has never been better and he embellishes the detached, childlike innocence of this character with perfect style and timing. He has also drawn especially adroit performances from his entire cast. A faithful but nonetheless imaginative adaptation of Jerzy Kosinskis quirky comic novel, pic marks a significant achievement for director Hal Ashby and represents Peter Sellers most smashing work since the mid-1960s. He makes it all seem very believable, and he progresses the story with sensitivity and an affectingly warm sense of natural comedy. Being There is a highly unusual and an unusually fine film. Hal Ashby’s direction is perfect in realizing the offbeat humor and gentle satire of the piece, which explores the influences of TV, as well as the susceptibility of media, business and political leaders in seeking new directions and imagery. He not only becomes a presidential adviser, but also a prime candidate for office. There, his simplicity is mistaken for directness and this man whose only experiences have been watching TV and gardening is praised for possessing the gift for being natural. As he is wandering around the streets of Washington, he is struck by Shirley MacLaine’s limousine (which bears the license plate MS) and she takes him back to the palatial estate she shares with her dying husband (Melvyn Douglas). The jaw-dropping Biltmore Estate, definitely set the tone for the film Being There, a motion picture starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and, playing the sitting President, Jack Warden. Peter Sellers, in a remarkably restrained and beautifully shaded performance, stars as a mentally retarded man who has been sheltered all his life and who is suddenly thrust into the world on his own. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': THR's 2003 Review
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