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36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
and the winner is: Geoffrey Rush, March 6, 2005
Geoffrey Rush will no doubt win every award available to him in this bravura performance for this BBC/HBO production. Based on the rather tabloid-sleaze biography by Roger Lewis, it presents a portrait of a demented, self-obsessed man who hurts everyone he comes in contact with. Taking into consideration the final facts stated in the film (he left his children $ 2,000.00 apiece) there is probably more truth than one would care to believe in this account of Peter Sellers, which starts with his appearances on The Goon Show, shows his twisted relationship with his mother, the women he abused in various ways, his difficult behavior on the movie sets, and ends during the time of "Being There", the award-winning 1979 film about a gardener who becomes a politician.
Geoffrey Rush is phenomenal as Sellers; and I especially like the scenes when he becomes his mother, as well as Blake Edwards. Rush is made to look somewhat like Sellers, but it is the body language and the verbal inflection that makes this portrayal so convincing.
Others in the cast are also excellent: Miriam Margoyles as his mother, Emily Watson as wife # 1, Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland, Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick, Stephen Fry amusing as celebrity psychic Maurice Woodruff, and the very underrated John Lithgow once again terrific as Blake Edwards. Sonia Aquino is impressive in the small part of Sophia Loren.
The direction by Stephen Hopkins is stylish and well-paced, and the score by Richard Hartley is peppered with Tom Jones singing "It's Not Unusual", and other songs that fit into the timeline from The Animals, The Kinks, and more.
A way above average Cable TV production, it's a riveting look at a great talent gone wrong, and a "must see" for Rush's performance alone. Total running time is 122 minutes.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An engrossing portrait of an unforgettable comic icon, August 27, 2005
"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," directed by Stephen Hopkins, looks at the remarkable life of the actor who triumphed in such films as "Dr. Strangelove" and "Being There." The film covers Seller's early days in British radio, his troubled personal life, his marriages, his relationship with his parents, his box office successes, his craftsmanship as a performer, and his relationship with director Blake Edwards. "Life and Death" opens up with a colorfully anarchic animated sequence (done to a swingin' Tom Jones song) and never loses its energy.
It takes a brilliant chameleon to play a brilliant chameleon, and Geoffrey Rush is amazing in the title role. He creates a remarkable portrait as he not only portrays Sellers at different stages of his life, but also recreates some of Sellers' most famous screen roles. Rush is ably supported by a stellar cast that includes Charlize Theron and Emily Watson. In one of the film's most striking motifs, Rush temporarily takes over some of his costars' roles and seemingly plays Sellers playing various individuals in his life; this motif is itself a clever, and eerily effective, homage to Sellers' own ability to play multiple roles in a single film.
The film mixes together some of the standard biopic elements with some really surreal elements and sequences. Overall it's a highly effective blend. Sellers ultimately is portrayed as a volatile creative force, capable of destructive rages as well as of great charm, playfulness, and generosity. His story is superbly complemented by a great soundtrack of evocative songs. Visually the film is stunning to look at as it captures different decades that Sellers lived through.
The DVD of the film is loaded with great extras. There are a number of really intriguing deleted scenes, including additional scenes of the versatile Rush taking on even more roles. There are two excellent feature-length audio commentaries. One is by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote the screenplay; the second is by Rush and director Hopkins. The commentaries reveal fascinating details about Sellers' life and career, and about the making of the film. Among the most interesting topics covered in the commentaries is the scrapped alternate opening for the film. Ultimately, this film made me want to both revisit the Sellers classics that I have loved for years and check out the Sellers films that I have never seen. "Life and Death" is a powerful, moving, entertaining, and thought-provoking tribute to one of the most amazing screen performers of the 20th century.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The complex, crazy world of Peter Sellers, July 5, 2005
Who was Peter Sellers? According to Stephen Hopkins film he was anybody his director and public wanted him to be; a little boy trapped in a man's suit who could adopt any persona and "be" that person. Geoffrey Rush gives a brilliant performance as Sellers. Unlike most movies, we see the most important moments in Sellers' life from his perspective; when a traumatic event happens (whether it be his wife saying she's leaving him, his mother dying, etc.) we "see" Sellers become that character and injecting what that moment meant to him. Ultimately, Sellers comes across as a self centered child who could and would become anyone to please those around him.
Hopkins complex but riveting film begins while Sellers is a member of the cast for The Goon Show on radio. Trying to break through to films, Sellers realizes the only way he can land a role that he wants as an elderly, daft gentlement is to show up already in character. Nobody knows who he is and he's immediately offered the role only then stepping out from behind the identity that he's assumed. As Sellers shoots to international stardom in "The Mouse That Roared" and in his signature role of Inspector Clouseau in "The Pink Panther", he also begins to lose control of his life distancing himself from his family and alienating his wife.
Rush manages to capture Sellers to a T.
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