People see what they want to see

Rating: 8/10 (10 August 2013)

Gosh, what a entertaining movie this is. It's worth more than its current IMDb rating.
Moviegoers are treated to interesting revelations about an episode in the life of a strange celebrity, told from the point of view of the young man involved. It shows us some of Liberace's musical talent, his real life, his inner sanctum and his extraordinary world. The plot is simple and age old: man meets boy, man gets boy, man ruins boy, man throws damaged boy away. (If Liberace could see this movie, he'd be spinning in his grave.)
This movie was made by an A-list director at the peak of his career. Two superb lead actors and a number of other outstanding supporting actors deliver truly astonishing performances. I would be shocked if these actors were not awarded.
In addition to the juicy biographical details about Liberace and his sordid dalliances with boys four decades younger than him, this movie has important things to say about Hollywood, American celebrity culture, extreme wealth, certain aspects of gay life and gay relationships (well, some anyway), and indeed relationships in general.
I haven't read Thorson's book, but this movie felt honest to me. Yes, this movie is about a "rich old closet queen" and a "hustler", but the film forces us to see how meaningless these labels are. (I suppose this was cinematically done long ago for their straight equivalent roles.) I can't think of another movie that focused on the sexual aspects of a gay relationship (albeit a very dysfunctional one) as much as this one did. I'm glad Soderbergh gave the role to the droolworthy Damon, who most certainly nailed it. This movie would have been a lot more uncomfortable to watch if a real 17-year-old had played Thorson. In this film, the absurd relationship between Liberace and Thorson is made believable and not so absurd.
The movie did not blow me away, nor did it impress me sufficiently to give it a higher score than 8.5 or so -- but I'm not sure why. I was not particularly moved by the film, and some aspects could have been explained a little more fully.