Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
With their golden era long behind them, comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy embark on a variety hall tour of Britain and Ireland. Despite the pressures of a hectic schedule, and with the support of their wives Lucille and Ida – a formidable double act in their own right – the pair's love of performing, as well as for each other, endures as they secure their place in the hearts of their adoring public
Stan & Ollie is a warm, understated biographical drama elevated almost entirely by the extraordinary performances of Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, who achieve an uncanny and deeply moving evocation of Laurel and Hardy's chemistry. The plot is modest and familiar in biopic terms — aging legends on a declining tour, reconciling old grievances — but it avoids the typical hagiographic pitfalls in favour of quiet emotional honesty. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate without being particularly distinctive. Novelty is moderate: the film finds a gently fresh angle by focusing on the twilight years and the friendship itself rather than the classic era, but it doesn't reinvent the biographical drama form. The ending is affecting and dignified, though the emotional payoff is more earned through performance than structural surprise.