Stan & Ollie

Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (John C. Reilly) were world renowned for their team comedy, but after Stan confronts producer Hal Roach over a salary increase, threatening to go the Chaplin route and start his own movie company, he discovers that Ollie’s still under contract – so the team breaks up. By 1953, both men are but a memory around the Hollywood studios and the team reunites for a tour of England before making a new film together. But things are different: Ollie’s gained weight and isn’t physically up to many of the old skits, Stan is writing material and realizes this is their last chance. Their strained relationship is the basis for these two actors to filter the old routines through biographical experiences to the point where audiences will forget Coogan & Reilly aren’t the actual Laurel & Hardy. As the younger Stan, Coogan flawlessly captures his mannerisms and voice inflections while Reilly mirrors the older Ollie. Director Jon S. Baird’s love letter to Hollywood matches both Burton’s Ed Wood and Scorsese’s Hugo for resembling a time portal.

[PG]