Blu-Ray Review: Chance the Gardener Makes it to Blu-Ray in ‘Being There’

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HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Chance the Gardener (Peter Sellers), a character who notoriously said “I like to watch,” would probably be mesmerized by the 30th anniversary Blu-Ray release of “Being There” from Warner Brothers. Sadly, fans of the film that are more accustomed to the modern world may be a little underwhelmed.

“Being There” features an Oscar-nominated performance by Peter Sellers, in the final role that he would be alive to see make it to the big screen, and an Oscar-winning turn from the great Melvyn Douglas. The film arguably should have been nominated for Best Screenplay, Best Director, and even Best Picture as well. If you haven’t seen what Roger Ebert deems a “Great Movie,” catch up with a modern classic.

Being There was released by Warner Brothers Home Video on February 3rd, 2009.
Being There was released by Warner Brothers Home Video on February 3rd, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers

Sellers plays Chance, a man who has spent his entire life living in the gardener’s quarters of a wealthy man. All he knows about the outside world is what he sees on the TV set he has been given by “the old man”. When his benefactor dies, Chance is thrown out into the bitter, cruel world, one that he meets with childlike naivete.

Chance stumbles his way into the world of a “kingmaker,” a wealthy man (Douglas) who helps makes Presidents like the current leader (Jack Warden) and his obvious insights and affirmations are mistaken for genius. Shirley MacLaine co-stars in a massively popular film that illustrates Sellers at his most brilliant.

Except for a few small mistakes - a stupid sex scene and the mind-boggling decision to include bloopers after a mesmerizing and controversial final moment - “Being There” is a great film. It’s about expectations of life and what we expect from our true leaders. The fantastic final line of Jerzy Kosinski’s great screenplay says it all - “Life is a state of mind.”

Blu-Ray, however, is more cut and dry and “Being There” comes up a bit short. The most interesting new special feature, by far, is the alternate ending, one that doesn’t include the discussion-inducing shot that Ashby and his d.p. reportedly came up during production. In this one, Chance and Eve run off together, arm in arm. It’s amazing to think about but I honestly don’t think that “Being There” would be half the film without the theatrical ending and it’s fascinating to see how it could have gone wrong.

The two recently discovered deleted scenes are far less interesting and the new featurette “Memories from Being There” borders on false advertising. The memories are all from one person - Ileana Douglas, the granddaughter of Melvyn and a great actress. I love Ileana, but who was asking for fifteen minutes of her take on the film and memories of her grandfather? A few minutes, sure, but it should have been intercut with other interviews. It’s nothing against what Douglas offers, but she shouldn’t have been the only one.

The special features are rounded out with a gag reel and theatrical trailer. It seems like an insufficient amount of extras for a very well-regarded film. No one was available for a commentary? How about behind-the-scenes footage from the production?

As for the film itself, “Being There” looks good but not great with a 1080P widescreen transfer in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Movies of the ’70s and early ’80s are sometimes overly polished on Blu-Ray. “Being There” looks a little too crisp and clean, giving the actors kind of a plastic look and the removal of all the grain goes a bit too far.

Luckily, the Dolby True HD is just a mono track. Too often, studios take mono tracks and try and turn them into surround tracks, resulting in echo and generally wrong soundtracks. “Being There” looks good (almost, too good) and sounds great.

“Being There” is a very good movie that has been given a pretty average Blu-Ray treatment. Maybe Chance will be luckier for the 40th Anniversary Edition.

‘Being There’ is released by Warner Brothers Home Video and stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Baseheart. It was written by Jerzy Kosinski and directed by Hal Ashby. It was released on February 3rd, 2009.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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