While I tend to regard myself as a mega comedy fan, I admit I haven’t delved too much into the iconic black & white film roots of the genre.  And you certainly can’t get more iconic than the legendary comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy.  I do vaguely remember being shown videos of them by my mum when I was a child, but apparently I found the look of the grainy films creepy and practically ran away from the room screaming!  Despite still being as cowardly as I ever was, I’m happy to say I did not have the same reaction when watching this film.

Performance-wise I knew it was a foregone conclusion going in that the leads were going to do a phenomenal job.  Steve Coogan has more than proven his versatility and absolutely nailed the tenacious creativity of Stan Laurel.  As for John C. Reilly, not only did he bring the lovable charm of Oliver “Babe” Hardy’s personality to screen (if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, his voice is just the best!), but also impressively captured the physicality of the “larger than life” performer.

Going into this knowing it’s a biographical account of the duo’s lives, I expected the usual “let’s do everything in chronological order” type of thing and was pleasantly surprised that instead the film chose to focus on one point in their lives.  Their gruelling variety hall tour of Britain in 1953, which proved sadly to be their last tour as well.  Not being well-versed in the history of the pair, at first I thought it was a bizarre choice to jump straight to their twilight years rather than covering them first at the peak of their fame.  It was only as the story progressed that I realised that I didn’t need to know every detail, and that this specific time in their lives perfectly captured the essence of their friendship.  With the hardship of perceived betrayals in the past, and their courage in the face of a merciless entertainment industry, this film was certainly a gripping account of their final “make or break” moment.

 
When you refer to a piece of work as a “love story”, your mind automatically jumps to romantic love of course.  We don’t tend to refer to tales of friendship using the word, despite platonic love obviously being a legitimate thing.  But nevertheless it’s the label I enthusiastically give to this film!  It’s heart-warming look at the love shared between these two men, and gives us insight into what it means to work on your craft just for the sheer joy of it.  A comforting reminder of that old adage, “It’s about the journey, not the destination.”

So in short, yes I do strongly suggest checking this film out.  I went in blind (to a point, thank you for the recommendation mum!) and would advise you do the same if you’re not too familiar with their history, as I personally enjoyed seeing the events unfold without knowing exactly how things were going to end up.  The trailer is especially a spoiler-fest so I’d skip it, and instead of linking to it below I’ll instead show you a brief clip of them performing ‘Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia’.  Enjoy!