…presents ‘Today’s Movie Review’:

 

Perhaps, like yours truly, you had never heard of the sequel to the Peter Sellers classic film, ‘Being There’ (based on the novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosinski). Maybe you, too, would have been caught as gleefully unaware as I was when I nearly stumbled over that very gem lying amid a misplaced pile of VHS tapes for sale right in the middle of the sidewalk in Chinatown!

It’s called ‘Being Here’ and is even more eerily prescient than the original. In that one, of course, Sellers played a simpleton named Chauncey Gardiner, or ‘Chance’, who is inadvertently drawn into a world of increasing political power – all the way to President – without ever actually having a clue about anything. This time around our hero is, hilariously, severely mentally ill. His name is Ronald D Clump, or ‘Clumpy’. The character, although purely fictional (so much so as to stretch our willingness to buy into the absurdity of the story far beyond any typical suspension of disbelief) nevertheless feels oddly familiar. Perhaps we should thank the sheer brilliance of the late Mr. Sellers for that. It’s worth watching for his performance alone.

Without giving too much away, I will tell you that our man ‘Clumpy’ blindly yet enthusiastically leads our country through a hair-raising series of mis adventures, including everything from plagues to burning infernos and devastating superstorms and tornados, to sexually groping to boundless, tumbling escapades with porn stars, from staggering incompetence to over-the-top corruption and authoritarian takeovers and crack downs… and more! Sure, many of the giggle-inspiring cheap cracks and gratuitous insults would never make it into a movie in today’s Hollywood – who would have thought racism and physical threats could ever be so funny? But all that is just the tip of the melting iceberg. Like with Clumpy himself, it may look like I’m giving it all away, but I’m not. Why, many of those seeing this wondrously preposterous flick won’t even realize they’re paying for it!

Unfortunately, the sound quality is a bit ‘off’ and the voices out of synch, not to mention that the musical score is more than a tad tiny. A bad copy? Perhaps… It’s a small price to pay compared to the exorbitant but totally fair amount I had to shell out to that poor gentleman there on the sidewalk. He didn’t seem to speak English and most likely didn’t realize how much this rare treasure is actually worth! Heck, the gold foil wrapping alone is bound to cost you!

Which is neither here nor there. That’s not what this rare masterpiece is all about, which, my good friends is (as the title says): Being Here!

Two thumbs up the old wazoo for this one!!!