I am – Hercules!!


I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered a project Ralph Fiennes couldn’t redeem. Don’t be fooled by the fact that a butler is a central character (or that big-band music is used in all the promos); the title characters met in 1987. “Bernard and Doris” (I keep wanting to call it “Bernard and Rose”!) is free if you get HBO.

Here's "Capone":

Through a weird series of events that isn't worth going into detail about, I got an advanced copy of the utterly original and singularly bizarre and satisfying HBO original movie BERNARD AND DORIS, premiering February 9, the story of the world's richest woman, Doris Duke (as in Duke University), and her friendship with her Irish butler, Bernard Lafferty, a penniless man who simply wants to be liked and appreciated for his work. For those familiar with Duke's life, you know that Lafferty surprisingly (even to him) ended up the primary heir to the Duke estate when Doris died. But this film isn't about that aspect of their relationship, although it is covered. Instead, director Bob Balaban and writer Hugh Costello wisely focus on the relationship. Even at their closest Duke sometimes couldn't resist the temptation to remind Bernard what and where his place was. But it's clear that he may have been the only person she trusted in the end, the only person she was convinced didn't want something from her.

In theaters beginning this week, Ralph Fiennes plays a sociopathic British gangster in the terrific IN BRUGES. If you ever thought you needed proof that Fiennes is among the finest actors working today, take a look at that film and BERNARD AND DORIS. The men he plays in these two films could not be any less similar. Bernard is a closeted gay man, who becomes less and less closeted as the story goes on and he feels more comfortable around his employer. By the film's final act, he wears a lovely evening gown in honor of Doris' two-person birthday party. The moment manages to be both deeply sad and quietly uplifting, a duplicitous tone that much of the film somehow maintains.

Susan Sarandon is in full feisty mode as Doris Duke, a woman who has spent most of her life being referred to as the “Richest Girl in the World,” a title she loathed despite it's accuracy. When Bernard enters her life, he is fresh out of rehab for alcoholism and looking for second chance. Doris is a combination of a shrewd businesswoman, an eccentric substance abuser (she also likes to drink), and a sexual dynamo, usually preferring the company of much younger men. In other words, this was a role Sarandon was practically destined to play. Despite Bernard's sexual preference, there is a hint of sexual tension between the two, mostly stemming from Doris. Often when things get to weird between them, she will retreat to one of her many homes around the world, leaving Bernard in charge of the staff. He responds by drinking himself into a stupor out of loneliness.

To be clear, BERNARD AND DORIS is almost entirely speculation. Few people no exactly what went on between the pair that made Doris so convinced Bernard could run her estate and foundations after her death, but writer Costello's account of their relationship seems as plausible as anyone's best guess. Fiennes and Sarandon as devastating, but Fiennes somehow manages to outdo himself at a time in his career where he keeps smacking me upside the head with how great he is in role after role. It's sometimes uncomfortable to watch him in this role; it's like watching an excited baby take his first steps and fall flat on his face. Bernard tests his limits both Doris and her friends. Sometimes he's accepted, and other times he's pushed aside as simply one of the help. The agony is unreal, but when Doris embraces his presence in her life, he smiles the most honest smile you'll ever see. BERNARD AND DORIS goes through long stretches where plot clearly is secondary to watching these two people just interact, and, let's face it, I could watch either of these great actors recite the rules to Parcheesi and I'd probably be drawn in. Smart and penetrating writing boosts what could have a been a freak show and turns it into two of the greatest character studies the small screen has seen in quite some time.

Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com

8 p.m. Saturday. HBO.