6. Rob Lowe - Behind The Candelabra
Just edging out Matt Damon is shameless scene stealer Rob Lowe for Behind The Candelabra, which many may have been surprised to see play in Competition, but which was a delightful experience, and is the film I personally am looking forward to seeing again once back on Terra Firma. Lowe plays Dr Jack Startz - reknowned plastic surgeon who transforms both Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his young lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) and then, as part of his make-over, gets Thorson hooked on his magic California Diet pills that start the spiral that takes the wheels off his life. The film just about ignores the urge to make Liberace and Thorson, or their harem of supporting characters into irredeemable caricatures, and instead offers a touching human drama with a grandiose backdrop, but in Startz, director Steven Soderbergh clearly had some fun. Since the timeline of the film, Startz has been discredited as a dangerous practitioner, and took his own life, leaving a notorious reputation, which Soderbergh uses to create a figure of ridicule, thanks to Lowe. Lowe's doctor is a walking plastic surgery obsession, face pulled so tight he can't blink properly or drink without his face forming a humorous confused look that had the audience in Cannes in stitches. To his credit, Lowe plays the character fairly straight, though Soderbergh's direction generously allows him some lingering time to milk the appearance jokes, and he is a true example of sparse use of characters adding to their impact.
Read the full review of Behind The Candelabra here.