Being There (1979)

1980 • 129 minutes

About this movie

What would happen if the American public got the leader it deserved?Peter Sellers plays an innocent and illiterate gardener who ends up themost influential man in Washington, D.C.--simply by Being There. Gentleand slow-witted Chance (Sellers) tends a garden on a palatial estate andknows nothing of the outside world except what he sees watchingtelevision. Then a limousine hits him, and everything changes. Elevatedto celebrity status by the limousine's powerful passenger, Eve Rand(Shirley MacLaine), Chance charms everyone, including the President ofthe United States (Jack Warden). Can his simple but wise gardeningmetaphors solve the country's complex problems? Chance helps peace growand flourish in this comic, cautionary fable about the power ofsimplicity.

Ratings and reviews

A wistful tale with understated subtle humour, provoking a smile, a smirk or a sigh more than any belly-laughs. An uncharacteristically restrained performance by Sellers, to say his performance lacked the expected grand gestures of humour usually seen in his previous works would be to miss the point. Simplicity of style dominates the piece, from the script to the focus of the piece which was on Sellers' uncluttered performance and single minded innocence amidst the morally grey and complex world we all know. A thoughtful and gently provocative piece of how a child provokes an extraordinary reflection from the world of those who have forgotten how to be innocent themselves, but are reminded of what it means to simply - be there.

After watching for an hour I couldn't stand any more of this drivel. What a shame two great personalities like Shirley Maclaine and Peter Sellers let themselves get into this. They must have been hard up I guess.

A brilliant and under rated film. Not a belly laugh but will pluck plenty of lip end twinges whilst provoking plenty of thought on the power of simplicity.