Movie · 2013 · Drama, Romance · 1h 58m · R · English
Curator score: 5.6/10 (80.3K ratings)
Too much of a good thing is wonderful.
Overview
Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.6/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.54/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Steven Soderbergh
Production
Jerry Weintraub Productions, HBO Films
Cast
Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Tom Papa, Paul Reiser, Bruce Ramsay, Nicky Katt, Cheyenne Jackson, Mike O'Malley, David Koechner, Boyd Holbrook, Debbie Reynolds, Eric Zuckerman, Eddie Jemison, Randy Lowell, Tom Roach, Shamus Cooley, John Smutny
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, sharply acted, and often very funny biographical drama that turns a tabloid relationship into a sad, intimate study of vanity, dependency, and performance. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon are the main draw, and Steven Soderbergh keeps it brisk, polished, and emotionally controlled.
Best for
viewers who like camp with a tragic edge
fans of performance-driven biopics
audiences interested in queer history and celebrity culture
people who enjoy sleek, TV-movie-adjacent prestige drama
Skip if
you want a deeply psychological or formally daring character study
you dislike melodrama and showbiz excess
you prefer understated, low-key romance
you are looking for a conventional inspirational biopic
Overview
Behind the Candelabra is a polished, sharply observed portrait of glamour as a kind of trap. Steven Soderbergh treats Liberace’s world as both dazzling and suffocating, letting the sequins, mirrors, and ornate surfaces become part of the emotional argument. The film is funny, sad, and occasionally cruel in a way that keeps the relationship from feeling sanitized.
Worth noting
Michael Douglas gives the kind of performance that makes the whole movie click: flamboyant, needy, controlling, and oddly vulnerable. Matt Damon is equally strong as the younger lover who is seduced by luxury and slowly ground down by it. Their chemistry carries the movie through its most melodramatic turns.
Bottom line
It is not a radical film in form, and some of its beats are familiar, but the craftsmanship is so assured that the familiarity rarely matters. What lingers is the uneasy mix of camp, heartbreak, and transactional intimacy, all wrapped in Soderbergh’s clean, elegant style.
Top Letterboxd reviews
CinemaVoid 🏴☠️ (3.5★) · 385 likes
After watching this I'm wondering if Liberace was maybe a little bit gay.
doinkdedoink (5★) · 306 likes
don't you just love gay and jealous matt damon
davidehrlich (3.5★) · 286 likes
"they don't have any idea that he's gay."
appropriately rich but disappointingly standard. douglas & damon slay their roles (everyone here does, really), but the pathos is limited by fixed rails.
curious as to why the final title card is so vague. "scott lives in reno, nevada." yeah, in jail.
Josh Gillam (4★) · 131 likes
The last ten years in the life of flamboyant pianist Liberace (Michael Douglas) are seen through the eyes of Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), his assistant and lover, in Steven Soderbergh’s biographical drama co-starring Dan Ackroyd, Scott Bakula, Debbie Reynolds and Rob Lowe.
The film is a fascinating look underneath the glamorous sheen of celebrity and into the more complicated reality underneath, exploring the highs and lows of its characters in an empathetic and even-handed way. Douglas is fantastic, embodying the… more
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (4★) · 115 likes
An outlandish and yet often sincere biopic about two of the most insincere and broken individuals portrayed in any biopic. In many ways, the rawness and straightforward nature with how everything was shown in here for some reason reminded me to what many were hoping for to see in Bohemian Rhapsody movie, though something tells me Freddie wasn't going around adopting his male escorts. And speaking of male prostitutes I loved how this movie wants me to believe everyone thought… more An outlandish and yet often sincere biopic about two of the most insincere and broken individuals portrayed in any biopic. In many ways, the rawness and straightforward nature with how everything was shown in here for some reason reminded me to what many were hoping for to see in Bohemian Rhapsody movie, though something tells me Freddie wasn't going around adopting his male escorts. And speaking of male prostitutes I loved how this movie wants me to believe everyone thought… more