Stan & Ollie's yesteryear comedy vibe is more pertinent than ever

Stan & Ollie's quaint vibe is infectious.
Stan & Ollie's quaint vibe is infectious.

OPINION: There are some things indelibly linked with childhood.

For me, heading to my grandparents during UK school holidays also meant repeated exposure to comedy giants Laurel and Hardy.

But depressingly, I suspect many these days won't even be aware of them - which is a crying shame given how this odd couple's success shaped comedy.

Without Oliver Hardy, there would be no bumbling Homer Simpson, and many comedy duos wouldn't have evolved.

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John C Reilly as you've never seen him before.
John C Reilly as you've never seen him before.

So it is with great fanfare that I urge people to watch Stan & Ollie (in cinemas now), a beautiful little film about the aftermath of celebrity and the desire to stay relevant - so pertinent in these shallow times of influencers.

The film's largely been described as a tonic to the times we live in, and cuts somewhat of an old-school vibe, but there are moments when it soars.

Chiefly, an opening shot in 1937 which follows the duo as they walk around a studio set at the height of their fame. This masterstroke shows Hardy's constant desire to play to an audience, Laurel's insistence on comic timing, and sets up everything you need to know about their rockstar legacy.

Stan & Ollie shows the comedy duo in the twilight of their career.
Stan & Ollie shows the comedy duo in the twilight of their career.

Fast forward 16 years and the motion pictures have dried up, the crowds have largely deserted and the audiences have moved on, the film follows the duo in the twilight of their career as they pursue live shows in the UK. To say it's melancholy is an understatement, but as we get ready for an influx of performers in their twilight hitting the musical stages, it's more contemporary than one would suspect.

At its core, Stan & Ollie is a film of the peaks and troughs of friendship, of the resentments and love both spoken and kept internalised - and Steve Coogan and John C Reilly make wondrous fist of both the sub-text and the physical demands of Laurel and Hardy's routines.

Simply evocative and affectionately presented, Stan & Ollie is a film where the performances pickle in their own bittersweet moments, and the finale is designed - and succeeds in - to deliver a lump to the throat.

After Olivia Colman's Oscar success this week, I can only imagine some of you will be trying to find out more about her - start with UK comedy Peep Show and drama Broadchurch (both on Netflix); you won't be disappointed in her range - or in why she was rightly rewarded.

IF YOU HAVE A MOMENT THIS WEEKEND

It goes without saying that New Zealand went mad for Sir Elton John's concerts, and it looks like that hype train is only going to continue rumbling on.

The biopic Rocketman is due out here at the end of May, and while I'm yet to be convinced by the contrivances of the film as demonstrated in the movie's trailer, I'm starting to feel the choice of Taron Egerton as ole Reg Dwight himself may not be a bad thing at all.

Actors singing have a rocky performance at best - for every Russell Crowe killing eardrums in Les Miserables, there's a Hugh Jackman rocking it in The Greatest Showman. However, as witnessed from this week's post Academy Awards Elton John AIDS party, Egerton's got more than the chops to pull this off. He joined John on stage for a performance of Tiny Dancer (search Elton John Taron Egerton Tiny Dancer on YouTube) and I got a few goosebumps - and I'm sure you will too.

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