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Being There

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Being There

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• Comedy
• Drama

• 1979
• Hal Ashby
• 124 mins
• 12

Summary

Satirical comedy starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. Chance is a naive illiterate gardener, who has never left the house he shares with his protector. When the old man dies, Chance has to enter a world he has never experienced, except through the perspective of his one obsession - television.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Calum Baker

Peter Sellers gives a masterful, stripped-back performance in this memorable satire, the last of the star's films to be released during his lifetime. He plays Chance, a middle-aged gardener brought up in a Washington DC townhouse whose only education and experience of the outside world comes from television, which he watches obsessively. Forced out after the death of his guardian, Chance is taken in by a DC kingmaker (Melvyn Douglas) who mistakes his limited conversation skills for wise plain talk. In short order, the man now known as "Chauncey Gardiner" becomes touted as the great modern sage of the US political class. It's an outlandish comic premise, and Jerzy Kosinski's Bafta-winning screenplay (adapted from his own novel) hardly wavers from its trenchant critique of America's shady power brokers. But it never descends into farce; instead, director Hal Ashby smartly sticks to a muted tone that highlights something genuinely poignant in Sellers's gentle delivery. The star claimed to see himself in his centreless character and does indelible work, conveying such blankness that it's a wonder the brilliant cast - including Shirley MacLaine and Jack Warden - are able to play off him so believably. The film's sole misstep comes after its graceful closing shot: an outtakes reel that plays over the credits. Sellers griped that it probably cost him the Oscar.

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7.9/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameChancePeter SellersEve RandShirley MacLaineBenjamin RandMelvyn DouglasPresident, "Bobby"Jack WardenDr Robert AllenbyRichard DysartVladimir SkrapinovRichard BasehartLouiseRuth AttawayThomas FranklinDavid ClennonSally HayesFran BrillJohanna FranklinDenise DuBarryLolo, boy on cornerOteil BurbridgeAbbaz, kid with knifeRavenell Keller IIIPoliceman by White HouseBrian Corrigan

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Crew

rolenameDirectorHal Ashby

Details

Released on

1980-07-11

Languages

English | Russian | Italian

Guidance

Sex scenes, some swearing

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

News & features about Being There

• 
  
  Sam McAlister: ‘Watching Scoop was like being there all over again’
  
  The former Newsnight guest booker couldn't believe the accuracy of the recreation in the new Netflix film.

• 
  
  Jumanji sequel features tribute to Robin Williams's character
  
  The late actor's character Alan Parrish has left behind clues in the Jumanji jungle

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• Ricky Wilson: "We don’t rely on the novelty of someone being there that shouldn’t be there"
  
  Kaiser Chiefs frontman, who takes over as a coach on BBC1's The Voice, has a pop at rival talent shows at the press launch of series 3

• Alison Graham: Watching the Baftas on television is so much better than actually being there
  
  "Really, you are the ones with the best seats in the house..."

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