They really don’t make ‘em like Being There anymore. The wonderful adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel is both a pitch-perfect dramedy and an effectively gentle satire of politics, race, and sex.
Hal Ashby’s film is not limited to, but certainly draws much of its appeal from, the penultimate performance of the great Peter Sellers as Chance the Gardener. Sellers dials down the bumbling persona he had perfected over his career and turns in one of his best as a man who knows two things, and only two things: gardening and television.
When the owner of the estate where Chance had lived his entire life dies, he is evicted onto the streets of Washington, D.C, suitcase in hand and TV remote in pocket. It’s the first time Chance has been outside the grounds of the estate in his life. When he’s struck by the limousine of Eve (Shirley MacLaine), he’s transported to the lavish estate of Eve and her husband Ben (Melvyn Douglas, in an Oscar-winning turn), a “kingmaker” with political ties that go all the way to the highest office.
What everyone fails to realize is Chance isn’t merely laconic or thrifty with words; he’s a human blank slate. Never taught to read or write, Chance’s great love in life is the boob tube, and he’s got the attention span to prove it. He flicks between channels with no real objective in mind. Exercise programs, cartoons, and the nightly news – he’ll watch it all.
Ben is immediately taken with Chance, who he sees as a dispenser of sage wisdom, and invites him to join him in a private conference with the President of the United States (Jack Warden). Chance offers some gardening tips mistaken for economic allegory, and the president mentions Chance in a televised speech, causing him to become the most oblivious of celebrities.
It’s hard to imagine the story of Being There playing out the same way in a film today. Instead, we’d have a “comedy” where Chance would become some wacky character who’s constantly saying inappropriate things he learned from TV but, despite the hijinks, has a heart of gold.
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