If Dr. Strangelove is Peter Sellers' magnum opus of comic diversity, then Being There is his homage to precise subtlety.
There is not a moment in the film when he is not doing precisely what he had planned to do the night before. He is clean, quiet, and crisp for the entire picture, always walking the thin line between any definable emotions his character "Chance" might have. He never lunges at a single choice, he simply lets the choice happen itself. The perfectionist in him knew that if he gave the role any clear objectives other than wanting to watch T.V., he would come across as more than what Chance was: a naive gardener who goes with the flow and always remembers to say "thank you".
The story concerns a man who, due to the death of his boss, suddenly finds himself having to leave the house at which he has tended the garden all his life, the house that he has never left before. Out and about in the rough, modern Washington D.C., he quickly falls into the hands of Eve Rand, the wife of Ben Rand (played by Melvyn Douglas, who got the Oscar for his Supporting role), who is a multi-millionaire banker. Chance's unusually simplistic manner of speaking (one that he has because, always guarded from the outside world, he doesn't know how to be any more expressive with his words) wins over the Rands, and soon, Chance's background becomes of national interest after he gives the President some down-to-earth advice on the economy.
Essentially, this is a film about being at peace with life, and letting that which does not matter truly slide. The Late Great Hal Ashby flexes superior director muscles here, showing us, like all the Greats do, that simple works.
"I like to watch."
There is not a moment in the film when he is not doing precisely what he had planned to do the night before. He is clean, quiet, and crisp for the entire picture, always walking the thin line between any definable emotions his character "Chance" might have. He never lunges at a single choice, he simply lets the choice happen itself. The perfectionist in him knew that if he gave the role any clear objectives other than wanting to watch T.V., he would come across as more than what Chance was: a naive gardener who goes with the flow and always remembers to say "thank you".
The story concerns a man who, due to the death of his boss, suddenly finds himself having to leave the house at which he has tended the garden all his life, the house that he has never left before. Out and about in the rough, modern Washington D.C., he quickly falls into the hands of Eve Rand, the wife of Ben Rand (played by Melvyn Douglas, who got the Oscar for his Supporting role), who is a multi-millionaire banker. Chance's unusually simplistic manner of speaking (one that he has because, always guarded from the outside world, he doesn't know how to be any more expressive with his words) wins over the Rands, and soon, Chance's background becomes of national interest after he gives the President some down-to-earth advice on the economy.
Essentially, this is a film about being at peace with life, and letting that which does not matter truly slide. The Late Great Hal Ashby flexes superior director muscles here, showing us, like all the Greats do, that simple works.
"I like to watch."