Being There (1979)

Hal Ashby- Director

Jerzy Kosinski –Screenplay (based on his novel by the same name)

Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden  

If you’re like me, you grew up loathing anything that wasn’t put out in the last 3 years, starred Johnny Depp, or had at least half a dozen car chases or explosions. And yet somehow in the past 5 years, I have my found myself reverting to yesteryear, enjoying heartily the calmingly optimistic narration of Robert Osborne and tuning more and more often to the perennially loved channel, Turner Classic Movies.

My father, whose favorite shows include Swamp People, refers lovingly to TCM as “top hats and dancing,” a moniker I can only assume is in reference to their penchant for featuring Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney in an increasingly alarming number of musical features. However, alongside their variety pack of tightly panted men and women in hats, are a few gems.

Being There is perhaps one of the funniest and unassuming movies of the last half century. It doesn’t accost you with slapstick or attempt to prove its superior wit with topical humor. No one is naked (save a chastely nightgown-clad MacLaine) and Mike Tyson does not make a cameo.  Rather, Peter Sellers’ brand of the driest humor mixed with the classic situations inherent in a case of mistaken identity serve to make this film effortlessly and unerringly hilarious.

The movie is based on a dimwitted, “rice pudding between the ears” gardener, Chance, who gets kicked out of his house when his caretaker, “The Old Man”, dies. Through a series of mistakes, Chance gets picked up by wealthy wife to a financeer, Eve played by Shirley MacLaine, and brought to the house, which happens to be the Biltmore Estate. Now dubbed Chauncy Gardner, the hapless Sellers charms Ben, the dying billionaire, the President and the entire international, financial community, all by saying little beyond “Yes, I understand.” He is assumed a reclusive government protected genius, a status he perpetuates by providing suggestions on how to run a garden, all of which are mistaken for brilliant political and financial insights.

While much of the best humor of the movie is said not through words but rather deliberate silences and perfect facial expressions – both of which can make the film seem a tad long and drawn out – it is a refreshing example of classic humor without the tricks and gimmicks of some of today’s comedies. Sellers shines in one of his last movies before his death in 1980, proving that he truly was one of the best comedians of our time. He carries the movie without saying more than perhaps 100 words of dialogue, relying instead on facial expressions and well executed silences to say more than a thousand pages could. Likewise, Shirley MacLaine, proves she had the IT factor at 45 every bit as much as she does as a well seasoned actress in her later films. Her timing and obvious comedic chemistry with Sellers in undeniable.

Truly one of the greats, Being There is the kind of movie that showcases the best of Hollywood and makes you appreciate once again that the bests are not necessarily the newest.