This is late, I know, because the movie was released on HBO two weeks ago. And I saw it only a few days after it aired, but I had to think about how I felt about it for a time. It was well done. Well-acted, well-directed, beautifully shot - I even enjoyed the dialogue well enough. Rob Lowe's make-up tickled me. I was engrossed while I was watching it.
However, there is one major problem with the movie, and it totally changes the story. Matt Damon was the wrong age to play Scott Thorson, whereas Michael Douglas was fairly age appropriate (playing maybe 7 years younger, compared to Matt Damon playing 25 years younger).
Why does it matter so much? Because a 60-year-old hitting on a 40-year-old is a whole different story than a 60-year-old hitting on a 17-year-old.
And he wasn't just any 17-year-old. He was a 17-year-old that moved around from foster home to foster home his entire childhood. A 17-year-old who, when the 60-year-old first tried to sleep with him, turned the 60-year-old down - only for the 60-year-old to insist they sleep in the same bed, and then the next morning give the 17-year-old a blow job.
The way Liberace seduced Thorson as portrayed in this movie is disturbing and predatory, but it's negated by a totally age-inappropriate casting decision that lets the viewer overlook its inherent creep factor. As shown in the movie, this is sex between two consenting adults. As it happened in real life, Liberace took advantage of a child with an unstable home life.
Later on, Liberace discussed adopting Thorson, adding another lay of creep to the story. Perhaps even worse, Liberace insisted Thorson get plastic surgery to look more like him. Liberace wanted to control every aspect of Thorson's life, as demonstrated again and again in the movie. He was emotionally manipulative - every time the two argued, Liberace would bring up the gifts and lifestyle he had given Thorson instead of having a legitimate conversation.
There is a beautiful gay romance to be told. We've told enough beautiful straight romances, and it really isn't any different. But to act like this is a romance rather than a pedophile manipulating a teenager from a foster home because he looked pretty in a bathing suit is insulting.
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