This really should be in theaters.

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2013)

Steven Soderbergh is on fire. For someone who has ended his big screen career, he is still kicking ass. His "final" big screen effort, Side Effects, is the best movie of the year so far. And he has another movie that he directed, called Behind the Candelabra (availible on HBO) and it is one of the years best so far. For someone who is quitting, it seems as if he's not going anywhere.
Behind the Candelabra has been in development for quite some time, but yet studios were afraid to bring it to theatres. Why? Because they were afraid it was too gay. That alone is something to admire about Soderbergh's film. The fact that he actually brought it to life. But it's not just him that brings it to life. The actors also bring it to life.
The film tells the bizarre true story of Vegas performer Liberace (Michael Douglas, in easily one of his best performances), and his odd relationship with Scott Thorson (Matt Damon, also giving one of his best performances). Scott went to work for Scott, and then they turned into lovers, and Liberace even forced Scott to get plastic surgery to look like him.
What also helps Behind the Candelabra is the side roles. Rob Lowe shows up (nearly unrecognizable) as Liberace's alien-like plastic surgeon. Dan Aykroyd plays Liberace's publicist. I loved this movie. Basically, i had a hard time tearing my eyes away. This is an unbelievable story that really needed to be told, and, shockingly, Nobody could have pulled it off better than this team.
If Soderbergh is at the end of his career, then it really has been a great one. He's a filmmaker who is never afraid to push the limit, and this film is an example of that. This couldn't have been an easy movie to make, but they really pull it off. This is a powerful, occasionally hilarious, and excellently acted biopic that should go to theatres. See it, if at all possible.
A-