With all the talents, can't quite live up to expectations

Rating: 6/10 (28 April 2014)

It's 1977. Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) is a young animal trainer for the movies. He meets producer Bob Black (Scott Bakula) in a gay bar who introduces him to Liberace (Michael Douglas). After treating Liberace's dog, he takes Thorson under his wing. Thorson is entranced by the opulence and an offer of a job. The older Liberace takes over the young Thorson's life including changing his face by Dr. Jack Startz (Rob Lowe).
This movie has Steven Soderbergh behind the camera and some great acting talents in front of the camera. I know it's a TV movie but with that kind of talent, I was expecting a whole lot more. Maybe I expected too much. The story is a pretty simple one about a naive newcomer falling into a sugar daddy. It's a lot of flash and Liberace provides all the outrageousness that any filmmaker could ever hope for. But the story just doesn't have any surprises. The acting is good. Everybody has a lot of fun playing gay. Matt Damon may be playing innocent a little too much at the beginning. The movie looks fine but there isn't any chance to pump up the excitement. This isn't all that compelling.