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MauritiusToday.com - Shopping Mall - Being There
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $14.99
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 25% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Peters Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Richard A. Dysart, Jack Warden
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780790757230
Format: Anamorphic
ISBN: 0790757230
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2001-04-03
Running Time: 130
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1979-12-19
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Editorial Reviews:
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Based on Jerzy Kosinski's satirical novel about an illiterate gardener who has lived his entire life behind the walls of a Washington, D.C., house, his only knowledge of the world coming from the TV programs he watches. When his employer and protector dies, he is catapulted into the fast lane of political power.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hilarious = Peter Sellers
Comment: Perhaps one of his best films, Chance the Gardiner (Sellers) delivers a master performance for any viewer...of course the film is dryer than a pair of old ladies on a golf course but the episodes that take place in the film are sure to please any audience!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great classic
Comment: I watched for the first time, decades after it was released. Still a great movie. Provides enough humor to keep the superficial viewer entertained and plenty of underlying metaphors for the cerebral viewer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Slow Moving But ...Ain't It The Truth?
Comment: This movie is uniquely funny and in my opinion the funniest Peter Sellers movie ever... it takes life and personal interpretation to the extreme; people will always make their own assumptions of what they think they hear and or experience!!! Too funny yet sadly so true!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Comment: Very comical film about a simple gardener who is misintrepreted by others who assume he is offering allegories on the economy when he is simply stating gardening facts. Hysterical at points.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Been There, Seen That
Comment: I missed "Being There" when it came out and I never seemed to find it later on TV so I finally rented it to see what all the excitement was about. I now understand the reputation it has accrued and I must say that I really did enjoy it. I can't see my way to rating it with "5 Stars" but "4 Stars" is certainly an indication of my respect and appreciation of this quality film. I laughed out loud on several occassions but the more common reaction I got was one of curiosity. Although everything that takes place in "Being There" seems to be normal, I never knew what to expect next. That's because, in the midst of all these characters who play their expected roles, there is one person who is completely out of place. Right from the beginning we are aware of who this character is and why he is so out of place. We just aren't prepared for the places he goes, the people he meets and the things he does. At times we see the parody of lifestyles, at times the parody of philosphies, at time the parodies of relationships, and at times the parodies of something else (we may not fully grasp what the parody is of...but we know it must be a parody).
The movie, will draw you in if you let it. Although I am often too pragmatic for my own good, I found it easy to be drawn into "Being There". A cursory look at some other reviews tells me others were not. I think the way this movie succeeds is the way the character was set up for us. I recall seeing "The Sixth Sense" years ago when it came out. I was insulted not by the movie but by a trailer in which the writer and director reviewed scenes in which a deceased character was able to believe that he was actually alive based on his perceived interaction with living persons. Their contention was; See! You doubted that this could happen but we just showed you how it could! OK, I thought, that proves your point for those 7 or 8 scenes but they took place over several days at least and you don't account for what this character did the rest of his time. In "Being There" we never need to concern ourselves with such pragmatic issues because we know that Chance Gardner is usually going to be off by himself watching TV. We can accept that the only scenes with him interacting with others were the only ones that actually occurred. (My pragmatism often works overtime). We can accept him as he is which enables viewers like myself to then accept everything else that happens as well.
The ending is a bit peculiar and left me reviewing what I had seen. There is an opportunity to elevate the meaning of "Being There" depending on how you react to that final scene. Personally, I thought it was simply more parody only this time it was of us.
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