Though a regular part of Liberace's performance - in a rhinestone-encrusted white chauffeur's suit he would drive the star on stage in a Rolls-Royce - he lived mostly in the wings, first as an indulged toy boy but later, and more disturbingly, as a man to be adopted and even remade, by cosmetic surgery, in his sugar daddy's image. (The film has a crass and distractingly hammy cameo by Lowe as a plastic surgeon).
It gives nothing away to say that it all ended in tears: Thorson's drug-taking; his eviction by goons; the famous palimony suit (he sought $135 million and got less than a thousandth of that).
The screenplay, by Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King; The Horse Whisperer) surveys its discrete time period with what seems like comprehensive attention to detail, though that's one of the film's liabilities: many of the scenes feel perfunctory, as if being ticked off a list of events that must be covered.
It's a shame really, since Douglas' Liberace, an improbable piece of casting, is a revelation. The gravelly voice, doubtless exaggerated by throat-cancer treatment, is unlike the nasal original, but he has created a figure of majestic extravagance without once resorting to strutting camp.
Damon is touching, too, although the film buys his version of events so Thorson ends up as more of a victim than he probably was. But as characters they lack complexity and the two actors never generate any chemistry - except, perversely, in bed. Fatally, it is impossible for us to care much what happened to either of them.
Stars: 3/5
Cast: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Tom Papa, Paul Reiser, Debbie Reynolds
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Running time: 119 mins
Rating: M (sex scenes, offensive language, drug use)
Verdict: Missing a heartbeat.
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- TimeOut