--- title: "Behind the Candelabra: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/behind-the-candelabra/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/behind-the-candelabra" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Behind the Candelabra (2013): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 12 reviews: 11 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews cluster tightly around the two lead performances. Nearly every critic singles out Michael Douglas as Liberace, several calling it one of his finest turns, and most pair him with Matt Damon’s Scott Thorson as a partnership that plays the affair straight rather than for stereotype. Soderbergh’s direction draws steady praise for wit and economy, for turning a television budget into deliberate visual choices, and for letting the camp sit alongside something sadder: claustrophobia, control, loneliness. The spread is narrow. What reservations exist are about depth rather than execution. The New York Times finds the film short on heart and heat, with little chemistry between the leads, and Collider thinks the story familiar and the relationship predictable, offering nothing new. The Los Angeles Times, otherwise warm, says it simplifies too much. Most critics do not share these doubts, and the dissenters are American rather than British. ## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin Rating 3.5/4. 26 May 2013. The critic praises the film as powerful, funny, and emotionally rigorous, noting its exploration of control and show business through strong performances by Douglas and Damon. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/behind-the-candelabra/) ## Empire — Dan Jolin Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 2013. The critic calls the film a magnificent, rhinestone-studded encore with fearless, transformative performances from Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson. Soderbergh turns TV-budget limitations into intriguing visual choices while letting the script and leads shine. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/behind-candelabra-2-review/) ## Film Comment — Violet Lucca Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). Soderbergh's portrait of Liberace offers a wealth of riches in its star performances and expert camerawork. The film stands as one of the best mainstream releases of its decade despite its made-for-cable origins. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/behind-the-candelabra-steven-soderbergh-dvd-review) ## Vulture — Matt Zoller Seitz Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 May 2013. The critic finds it an impressive work that feels like a great old Hollywood film, with wrenching emotional impact and elegant purposefulness from Soderbergh and the cast. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/tv-review-beyond-the-candelabra.html) ## IndieWire — Anne Thompson Rating B+. 27 May 2013. The critic highlights Douglas and Damon shining in a funny, poignant melodrama that showcases Soderbergh's direction of the Liberace story. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-douglas-and-damon-shine-in-soderberghs-funny-poignant-melodrama-behind-the-candelabra-197748/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 June 2013. The critic finds the HBO-made film highly entertaining, with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas on top form in unexpected roles and a literate screenplay that respects the relationship while delivering witty lines. Soderbergh avoids parody in depicting Liberace's excesses and the production values capture the palatial kitsch effectively. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/behind-the-candelabra-film-review-8648733.html) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 4/5. 3 June 2013. Soderbergh delivers a massively pleasurable and understanding biopic of Liberace's secret relationship with Scott Thorson. It successfully balances camp romp with the sadder realities of the era's sexual politics and a suffocating partnership. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/behind-the-candelabra) ## Los Angeles Times — Mary McNamara 24 May 2013. The critic calls it a darkly moving look at two lonely men who briefly found something like love, while noting it simplifies too many things despite strong performances. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2013-may-24-la-et-st-behind-the-candelabra-20130524-story.html) ## Screen Daily 21 May 2013. Festival review. Beneath the flamboyance, the film emerges as a touching gay love story focused on personal heartache. Michael Douglas gives a triumphant performance as Liberace in this entertaining showbusiness biopic from Soderbergh. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/behind-the-candelabra/5056550.article) ## Sight and Sound 9 June 2013. Steven Soderbergh's swansong is a captivating biopic of Liberace and his relationship with Scott Thorson. It balances laughs at the excesses with a sense of claustrophobia and mortality, anchored by strong performances from Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-behind-candelabra) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 6 June 2013. Steven Soderbergh's addictively funny and watchable film is about the tempestuous love match between Liberace and Scott Thorson, brilliantly played by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. It is a bizarre anti-Pinocchio parable of toxic love, co-dependency, plastic surgery and celebrity loneliness that starts super-camp and ends gently sentimental. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/06/behind-the-candelabra-review) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy 21 May 2013. Festival review. The critic calls the film fabulous, superbly scripted and brilliantly directed, with standout performances by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon that bring real feeling and sly humor to the Liberace biopic. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/behind-candelabra-cannes-review-525761/) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody 28 May 2013. The critic highlights the film's exploration of the ordinary under the extraordinary in Liberace and Thorson's relationship, praising Soderbergh's stylistic choreography of actors and camera. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/soderberghs-liberace) ## The New York Times — Mike Hale 24 May 2013. The critic praises Michael Douglas's assured impersonation of Liberace but finds the film limited and short on heart or heat, with little chemistry between the leads. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/arts/television/behind-the-candelabra-starring-michael-douglas-on-hbo.html) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin 7 June 2013. Soderbergh's exceptional film, adapted from Thorson's memoir, treats the five-year relationship with piercing intelligence and features one of Michael Douglas's greatest performances as the flamboyant Liberace. Douglas combines slackness and precision into a brilliantly unsettling yet lovable whole in this HBO-produced biopic that receives a UK cinema release. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10069397/Behind-The-Candelabra-review.html) ## HeyUGuys — Craig Skinner Rating 5/5. 21 May 2013. Festival review. The review highlights the film's exquisite craftsmanship, strong performances, and blend of humour and underlying melancholy in depicting the complex relationship. It is described as one of the best films seen at Cannes that year. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2013-behind-the-candelabra-review/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2013. Festival review. The critic calls it Soderbergh's best film in years, an honest and authentic rendering of the passionate love affair between Liberace and Scott Thorson. They single out the lead performances by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon for their natural affection and avoidance of stereotypes. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/behind-candelabra-review-sex-lies-closet-92966/) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Rating 4/5. 4 June 2013. Soderbergh directs with wit and economy, playing the relationship's extremes for comic effect without demonizing its subjects. Douglas delivers a complex, arresting performance as the lonely, larger-than-life Liberace. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a486386/behind-the-candelabra-review-michael-douglas-lifts-veil-on-liberace/) ## Eye for Film — Richard Mowe Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2013. Festival review. The critic praises the authentic and fearless performances of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in portraying Liberace and Scott Thorson. The film is seen as evolving into a moving love story of two misfits amid the glamour and excess. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/behind-the-candelabra-2013-film-review-by-richard-mowe) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating C-. 27 May 2013. The critic finds the relationship predictable and the story familiar, despite strong performances from Douglas and Damon; it feels like a disappointing final film from Soderbergh as it offers nothing new or insightful. [Read the review](https://collider.com/behind-the-candelabra-review/) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 7.0. 23 May 2013. Festival review. The film explores the challenges of loving a famous person more than its camp elements; Soderbergh and the cast deliver a lively, warm portrayal of the imbalanced yet affectionate relationship between Liberace and Thorson. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/behind-the-candelabra-2013-cannes-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/behind-the-candelabra.md