Yes, we’re hit-whoring through our gay readers, what of it? Besides, you don’t need to be gay to enjoy the leathery visage of one Mr. Michael Douglas, who will star as the legendarily flamboyant musician in “Liberace.” Steven Soderbergh is currently in pre-production on “Knockout” but still has plans for the ambitious biopic to shoot afterwards.
Matt Damon is playing Scott Thorson, Liberace’s secret lover who engaged in a globetrotting romance with the performer. After their relationship deteriorated, he filed a massive lawsuit against his ex-lover, before watching Liberace die of AIDS. Thorson’s book, “Behind the Candelbra: My Life With Liberace” is said to be the inspiration for the film.
Soderbergh discussed the movie with MTV, stating, “It’s told from the perspective of Scott. We have this framing device in which he’s laying [the story] out for us. As a narrator, it feels like he has an agenda — and then when you get to the ending you realize, ‘Oh, it’s not what I thought.” Later on he adds, “I think it’s going to be really funny… it lands in a really unexpected way. The ending is surprisingly emotional. It will be unexpected. It ends really, really well.” There’s also some red hot talk about a hot tub scene, we recommend clicking for more.
Hm. Sounds a lot like the noted “crowd-pleaser” “The Informant!” which took a similarly loopy look at a real-life incident and poked fun at the absurdity of it before landing an unexpected dramatic note. We liked “The Informant!” but it wasn’t really the most commercial film around. Steven Soderbergh is always interesting, but without those “Ocean’s” films, his ideas of a “one for them” film are a bit off-the-wall, and post-“Moneyball” we don’t want to see him struggling to get stuff made. Particularly an absurd gay showbusiness romance.