MOVIE · 1979
Being There
ComedyDrama130 min
When the man who has sheltered him dies, Chance, a gardener who knows the world mostly through television, is suddenly forced out into Washington, D.C. Peter Sellers is Chance, whose offhand observations are mistaken for wisdom after he falls into the orbit of a wealthy businessman, Ben (Melvyn Douglas), and Ben’s wife, Eve (Shirley MacLaine). As politicians, executives, and socialites project their own meanings onto him, Hal Ashby’s film builds a sharp satire around class, media, and public life, while Sellers keeps Chance oddly serene and hard to read.
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