Being There (1979) * * * *

Directed by:  Hal Ashby

Starring:  Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard Dysart

I doubt a movie like Being There could, or would, be made today.     It is not the type of movie that is pigeonholed into formula or able to be pitched as "Rain Man meets The American President."    Come to think of it, maybe a remake could be pitched that way.    Being There is a sly, subtle comedy with points to make that are not so subtle.    I recall a line in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea (2004) where he says, "People hear what they see."   He very well could have been talking about most of the people in Being There.    

Peter Sellers, in one of his last roles before his death in 1980, is Chance, a mentally challenged gardener in the secluded home of a reclusive old man in Washington, D.C.    Chance is happy tending to the garden by day and watching TV at night.     His only other human connection is Louise, the family maid who serves him his meals.    The old man dies, the house is closed up by estate attorneys, and Chance is soon homeless.    He can not read, write, or function adequately in the outside world.     Any social skills he has were learned from television.    But, he dresses impeccably in the old man's tailor-made suits and, even though he is as homeless as an unkempt bum, people assume he is a man of class, culture, and intelligence.    He is quiet and maintains a friendly countenance, much like a person who smiles when he embarrassed, keeping up the façade that he actually knows what others are talking about.    He carries along his TV remote, even though there is no TV to watch it with.   He is soon confronted by a gang of street kids and finds they won't go away when he clicks his remote at them.

Through a bizarre accident, Chance soon finds himself recuperating in the home of Ben Rand (Douglas), a dying multi-millionaire with a younger wife Eve (MacLaine) who grows fond of Chance.   They mistakenly believe his name is Chauncey Gardiner.    Chance knows very little about anything but gardening.   When asked about his views on current events, he says things like, "Spring is the best time for planting.   You have spring and summer, then fall and winter again."    Ben, Eve, and others are astonished by what they think are profound, metaphorical statements.    Because Chance maintains an image of elegance, they assume he is wise, straightforward, and insightful.    

The family doctor (Dysart) nurtures suspicions about Chance,    He just seems "off".   The President (Warden), a close friend of Ben's, also orders background checks on Chance and is shocked to learn he seems to have no past.    Amusingly, the CIA and FBI each accuses the other of destroying his file.   This must be a man to be reckoned with, they think, because if he weren't, he would have a file.   In the meantime, Chance disarms everyone he meets simply by agreeing with them, nodding his head with a smile, and throwing out gardening references mistaken for profound wisdom.    It is amazing how well Being There escalates this joke.    Soon, Chance finds himself on a talk show and is mentioned in Washington circles as a potential presidential candidate.

Being There lampoons society because, like the people in this film, it falls for bullshit because a man in a suit delivers it.   Ben, in an Oscar-winning performance by Douglas, enjoys Chance's company in his dying days.   There is a touching scene in which the doctor is about to tell Ben that Chance is not who they think he is, but holds off because Ben confesses how meeting Chance has made his days a lot better.   Somehow, someway, Chance keeps up the façade even though he isn't really putting up one.    It is a façade created by those who around him who aren't really paying attention.   

Sellers expertly plays the blank slate Chance in what is a hard performance to pull off.     He stays within himself at all times, even when Eve attempts to awkwardly seduce him.    He says, "He likes to watch,"   He means TV, she thinks it's an invitation for her to masturbate.   She doesn't even notice he begins trying calisthenics on the bed while she climaxes.   It is among the best performances of Sellers' career.    He never reaches for effect because there is none to reach for.    He resists the urge to play Chance with a sly awareness of what's happening.     

The people in Being There are not stupid by nature, but still find themselves falling for a lie they created for themselves.     Being There remains relevant today.  We fall for political rhetoric because of a way a certain person is presented on camera.   We follow the lives of glamorous movie stars because they are packaged a certain way by the media.   Things have not changed much since 1979, only the greater media presence and the advent of social media.  

A lot was made of the film's climactic scene, where Chance walks on top of the lake and uses his umbrella to check the water's depth.    There are many explanations I have heard as to why this happens.   (Chance is a Christ figure, etc.)     Here is mine:   Chance, because he is impervious to outside influence and is able to have the world conform to him, somehow rises above the muck the rest of us are stuck in.   Does someone need to be like Chance to be immune to the way we are shaped and controlled by the media?  Or others?  Being There suggests that this may be so.