Film review: Behind the Candelabra (15)

It traces the men’s relationship from first meeting in 1977 to Liberace’s death bed in 1987, when the entertainer attempted to keep his HIV status secret from fans and the gutter press.

Richard LaGravenese’s script unfolds in chronological order, peppered with tart one-liners (“After cooking and sex, I think shopping is the reason to get up every day”), gifted largely to Michael Douglas as the fleet-fingered musician, who sued anyone that dared to suggest he was gay.

It’s a tour de force portrayal that would be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination had the film not been conceived for US cable television.

Behind The Candelabra trades biting wit, romance and heartbreak to lay bare the emotional bonds between Scott (Matt Damon) and his famous partner. Bizarrely, the pianist pays plastic surgeon Dr Jack Startz (Rob Lowe) vast sums to mould his lover into a younger version of himself.

The pressures of fame weigh heavily on Scott and the relationship flounders, causing Liberace to quip cattily: “I can’t stand it when you have a face like that, especially after all the money I paid for it.” Damon has the less showy and more difficult role and he rises to the occasion magnificently. The white hot glow of Douglas’s performance distracts from the sluggish pacing of the film’s final third and the broad sketching of peripheral characters. However, the glitz and glamour are intoxicating.