"Behind the Candelabra" (2013)

My late mother would always make snide remarks about Liberace.  She would refer to the late pianist as "funny", and Ma didn't mean humorous.  This made-for-cable movie addresses what many probably already knew:  that Liberace (Michael Douglas) was gay.  It covers a relationship the pianist had with Scott Thorsen (Matt Damon).

Thorsen is introduced to Liberace by Bob Black (Scott Bakula) after one of the pianist's concerts.  The man who drives Liberace onstage in a Rolls Royce is not happy, and he has good reason for that.  It isn't long before that man is moving out of Liberace's house, and Thorsen is moved in.  Liberace's houseboy is also sent packing after he tells Thorsen that Liberace will eventually grow tired of Thorsen.

Liberace spoils Thorsen with everything money can buy.  Thorsen is even talked into getting plastic surgery to look like Liberace.  There's talk of Liberace adopting Thorsen, and the young man is placed in his will.  Thorsen is satisfied until things become so comfortable that it feels more like a prison.  Liberace begins to accuse Thorsen of not being grateful for what has been done for him.  It does not help matters when Thorsen begins to use drugs behind the plastic surgery.  The relationship begins to fall apart.

Liberace is shown as a man loved by audiences but trapped by his private lifestyle.  His manager, Seymour Heller (Dan Ackroyd) knows the pianist's secret, and is devoted to hiding it behind a carefully planned public image.  Thorsen doesn't appear to be an opportunist here, but a wide-eyed young man swept up into a glamorous lifestyle without considering what was behind the curtain.  I liked how Douglas played Liberace, using the man's speech patterns and flamboyance without it being a usual stereotype or mocking him.

Michael Douglas is the son of actor Kirk Douglas.  Mr. Douglas won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance in Wall Street (1987).  Matt Damon co-wrote Good Will Hunting (1997) with his friend Ben Affleck; they won an Oscar for the screenplay.   Debbie Reynolds plays Liberace's mother; I didn't know it was her until I read the credits.  She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964).  Dan Ackroyd was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy (1989).