Reviews

I'm not a great lover of fictionalised history (and any drama that purports to show the private meeting of two men many years ago is just that) but 'Stan' was so well written that it won me over completely. It doesn't matter that the meeting is speculative because the general theme (love, loss and the constructive and destructive power of memories) is universal. There's enough obvious truth in what Stan is saying to Ollie to transcend any historical inaccuracy and for that I am impressed. The play (for that is what it is) concerns the final meeting of a melancholic Stan Laurel and a dying Oliver Hardy. Stan is not at all happy to be asked to visit Ollie because he can barely face the emotional trauma of having to face the loss of his friend and business partner. This runs deep because Stan knows that the instant Ollie dies then a part of himself dies too because they are inseparable as a comedy unit. Much of the production is flashback that illuminates the reasons for Stan's depression and attitude to other people in the context of his (almost) one sided conversation with the seriously ill Mr Hardy. There's a magnificent moment when Stan, referring to his 3rd (and most troublesome) wife says "Without her it'd be just me and the darkness". Heavy stuff. I really enjoyed 'Stan' and watched it for the second time tonight which was interesting because there's a semi-hidden running joke that is fun to watch developing once you understand the punchline to come (it involves Ollie's water and a misinterpretation by Stan and fulfills the eternal maxim of 'leave the audience laughing').

The original Lensman series of novels is a classic of the genre. It's pure adventure SF with some substance (here and there) and I've always wondered why Hollywood hasn't filmed it verbatim because it's just the kind of thing they love: massive explosions, super-weapons, uber-heroics, hero gets the girl, aliens (great CGI potential), good versus evil in the purest form, etc etc. Instead (and bear in mind I'm a Japan-o-phile and anime lover) we get this horrendous kiddies movie that rips the guts out of the story, mixes in Star-Wars (ironic as the latter ripped off the books occasionally) pastiches and dumbs the whole thing down to 'Thundercats' level. To see Kimball Kinnison, the epitome of the Galactic Patrol officer and second stage Lensman portrayed as a small boy is pitiful (etc). I just can't understand why the makers did this because they obviously had the rights to the story and could have made far more money (FAR!) by telling straight. It makes no sense.