Looks like a Lifetime flick.

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Taking a bath together? Seems a little gay.

But how gay?

Trailer:

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Synopsis:


Premieres tonight on HBO. I've already set the DVR. The subject matter might not interest everyone here, but with the cast and Soderbergh directing, should at least be well made.

This looks fantastic. Almost a reason to get HBO. I'll definitely watch it when it's available on Amazon streaming or Netflix.

Most likely won't be on either.

It definitely won't be streaming on either service because of HBO Go. But they should release a DVD/Blu-Ray later this year or early 2014, so that should be available for rental in the future.

Keep an eye out for Free Previews, too. They pop up at least once a year, and this site is pretty reliable at indicating when they are available.

EDIT: Looks as if HBO On Demand is free through Tuesday on FiOS. I wonder if it will be posted to OD tomorrow?

wow. did anyone watch this on HBO tonight?

crazy to get Michael Douglas and Matt Damon for a made-for-TV movie.


any feedback from those who saw it?

Fantastic!

A new camp classic...for gays watching this it was like Mommie Dearest meets Showgirls...

Rob Lowe was a little over the top but its probably because he was the only one not taking it seriously....

Is it too gay for straight people to watch?

I would say yes because it represents the worst cliches of male homosexuality but the performances are so good you can't miss it.

I was surprised there wasn't MORE male nudity but if you think Matt Damon's shaved ass and Michael Douglas and Matt Damon kissing is going to bother you then skip it.

I think I'll be OK watching it. Thanks though.

Fantastic performances. I really liked the movie (yes, I am straight). It's funny, I remember not realizing Liberace was gay, man were people naive back then.

Think of it as a Michael Douglas and Matt Damn in a Steven Soderbergh movie at Cannes and suddenly it's not so crazy

It's also amazing that he kept his being gay a secret during his lifetime. With the internet, everyone having a phone camera and 24 news outlets plus TMZ running around all over the place, he could never pull that off in today's world.

I remember being a kid and watching him on programs like The Tonight Show, I knew he was different and over the top but not gay. But being a kid, it most likely flew right over my head.

Rob Lowe was hysterical in this. Especially in that he looked almost exactly like Michael Jackson.

This movie is worth seeing for the performances, but if blatant male homosexuality bothers you I recommend you skip it.

I agree with what a previous poster said about Liberace only being able to hide his secret in the day and age in which he existed. I liked Thorson's "WTF?" reaction to the revelation that no one knew about Liberace's sexual preference. I guess because it was not as much a part of culture back then as now, less people were able to detect it.

I liked it. Loved the opening sequence with the retro HBO logo. Scott Bakula was pretty good in this as well.

It's not TV. It's HBO. ®

Anybody see this yet? The reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Since I don't have HBO I'll wait for the BD.


The New York Times:

Sashaying across Las Vegas stages and epic suburban living rooms with a drum major’s puffed-up grandeur and a lounge lizard’s predatory smile, Mr. Douglas gives a performance so assured, so free of camp or cringe, that you quickly surrender any doubts you might have had about his playing a famously flamboyant, closeted-in-plain-sight gay entertainer. At the same time there’s something limited, and limiting, about Mr. Douglas’s portrayal. Its brilliance feels as if it were all on the surface, a matter of expertise and professionalism. And the same could be said of Mr. Soderbergh’s film …


The Los Angeles Times:

... a darkly moving and provocative look at two lonely men who briefly found something like love before the maelstrom of fame, money and drugs, all churning within the confines of the sexual closet, blew it apart. … one of those films that must be viewed at least twice -- once for the performances (and the costumes) alone, then again to let the implications of the story sink in. …

The San Francisco Chronicle:

Michael Douglas is astonishing. ... Damon is just as good, somehow convincing us that he's far younger than he is in real life and artfully keeping us guessing about Thorson's true motivation as he worms his way into Liberace's life.


The Pittsburg Post gazette:

... tells a pretty conventional story, but, boy, does it tell it with flair. … Mr. Douglas, in particular, does a fantastic Liberace impression that doesn't get in the way of showing Liberace's loneliness, his sense of entitlement and his rapacious appetite for younger men …


The Boston Globe:

the rest of the film matches Douglas’s brilliance in every way. Beautifully written (by Richard LaGravenese) and directed (by Steven Soderbergh), “Behind the Candelabra” doesn’t quite fit into the biopic genre — simply because it is so good.


The Hollywood Reporter:

Superbly scripted, brilliantly directed, smart but never smarmy and led by a lead performance by Michael Douglas so good you often forget you’re watching an actor rather than the famous character he’s playing, this is a rarity, a fully realized biographical drama shot through with real feeling and an abundance of sly humor. It’s a winner all around.


AICN:

A fascinating and frequently hilarious examination of Liberace’s eye-opening personal life, “Behind The Candelabra” may or may not mark the self-imposed end of Steven Soderbergh’s career as a film director – but if it is truly to be his last big-screen effort (the HBO movie plays in cinemas overseas), it turns out to be one of the most entertaining showbiz exits ever.

I thought it was a pretty fantastic movie.

Rob Lowe's character as the plastic surgeon looked like he had some work done too

Ya think?