Being There

I must admit I have a prejudice against Peter Sellers. There are very few films where he manages to reign in his maniacal behavior and give a clever and charming performance. Strangelove is about as manic as I can take him, The Mouse that Roared is perfect, and so often ((Alice in Wonderland, Pink Panther etc) he goes beyond.

But here, he shows his perfect comic ability as a quiet, understated, genteel gardener who gets misinterpreted by people who look too deep into everything. The overall effect of this political satire is a comfortable comic drama.

This film carries elements that were later reflected in "Forrest Gump", "When Harry Met Sally" and "Dave". The idea that a common man with simple notions can give inspiration and show the way to someone with a more cluttered mind, and then Shirley Maclaines self love sequence is reminiscent of Meg Ryans lunch noises.

The whole film leaves you with a sense of Chance (Sellers) being differently enabled, or at least uneducated. He has never matured. The final sequence, plays on the notion that maybe he was sent from above, and could lend significance to Shirely MacLaines characters name "Eve", but that's probably reading too much into it.