NEVER JUDGE A MAN BY HIS COVER.

If the right actor is cast as the brilliant and versatile Peter Sellers in a biography, half the job is done. Geoffrey Rush is excellent as the childish, egotistic mama’s boy whose emotional outbursts could be equally charming and off-putting; he makes a convincing Clouseau and classic scenes from Sellers’s film career are expertly recreated. It’s an entertaining film, stylishly directed, never losing its sense of humor. The story is occasionally interrupted by Sellers posing as his friends and family, trying to manipulate their image of him. It’s a neat trick and completely in style with how we view this master of disguises.

2004-U.S.-Britain. Made for TV. 122 min. Color. Directed by Stephen Hopkins. Teleplay: Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus. Novel: Roger Lewis. Cast: Geoffrey Rush (Peter Sellers), Charlize Theron (Britt Ekland), Emily Watson (Anne Sellers), John Lithgow, Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry… Stanley Tucci, Heidi Klum.

Emmys: Outstanding Directing, Writing, Actor (Rush). Golden Globes: Best TV Movie, Actor (Rush).

AVERAGE

IMDb