'Stan & Ollie' a well-acted, bittersweet tribute to a legendary comic duo

[Auggie]

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle / 1-9-19

“Stan & Ollie” is a gentle movie. It’s valedictory, with a sense of the ephemeral nature of life, the inevitability of regret, and the bittersweetness of looking back on past happiness. It’s the story of a movie partnership, of two men who were, at one time, among the most loved people in the world — with the even greater distinction of being loved, in particular, by children.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy still top most lists of the all-time great comedy teams. Paired by producer Hal Roach, the two worked together from the late 1920s through the early ’50s, and in their heyday, they were a huge box office draw. But “Stan & Ollie” doesn’t concern itself with those years, but rather with the story of their twilight, their 1953 tour of Great Britain stage venues that would mark the end of their collaboration.

SNIP

Though he’s hardly the physical type, Reilly makes a good Hardy. The comic timing might not be there, but he has a feeling for the man, and we come away understanding who Oliver Hardy was, how he saw himself and what he wanted out of life. As played by Reilly, this was not a complicated fellow, but a down-to-earth man of simple tastes, who was proud of his accomplishments, happy with his slice of movie immortality, but not really driven to succeed.

Coogan’s Laurel is something else again. Coogan is remarkable. In the movie’s re-creation of the team’s comedy bits, Coogan completely embodies Laurel — or rather Laurel possesses Coogan, as though Coogan were channeling him. In the offstage scenes, Coogan is even more interesting, in that he not only gives us a sense of who Laurel was, but suggests, in the offstage manner, the perspective and view of life that fueled Laurel’s work. This was an inexhaustible comic mind, who couldn’t stop thinking up bits and premises, but there was something melancholy about him, too. Watching Coogan, we understand the philosophy behind the duo’s absurdity.

MORE: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/stan-ollie-a-well-acted-bittersweet-tribute-to-a-legendary-comic-duo

LaSalle: "A perfectly lovely film."