IMDb > The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
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The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) -- The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   7,190 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Stephen Hopkins
Writers (WGA):
Roger Lewis (book)
Christopher Markus (teleplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 August 2004 (Australia) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama more
Tagline:
Never judge a man by his cover. more
Plot:
The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 17 wins & 23 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(20 articles)
In a World Starved For Great Comedy, Why Not Revisit Some Stellar Sellers?
 (From Huffington Post. 22 September 2009, 11:55 AM, PDT)
Ratings For Tony Awards Jump -- So Do NBA's
 (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 8 June 2009, 2:43 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Rush is mind-blowing... but which Rush? more (121 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Geoffrey Rush ... Peter Sellers

Charlize Theron ... Britt Ekland

Emily Watson ... Anne Sellers

John Lithgow ... Blake Edwards

Miriam Margolyes ... Peg Sellers
Peter Vaughan ... Bill Sellers
Sonia Aquino ... Sophia Loren

Stanley Tucci ... Stanley Kubrick

Stephen Fry ... Maurice Woodruff
Henry Goodman ... Dennis Selinger
Alison Steadman ... Casting Agent
Peter Gevisser ... Ted Levy
David Robb ... Dr. Lyle Wexler
Edward Tudor-Pole ... Spike Milligan (as Edward Tudor Pole)
Steve Pemberton ... Harry Secombe
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
122 min
Country:
USA | UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18
Filming Locations:
Biltmore Estate - 1 Approach Road, Asheville, North Carolina, USA more
Company:
HD Vision Studios more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Michael Sellers had a turbulent relationship with his father, but he always tried to defend his legacy. When the film was released, Michael scolded director Stephen Hopkins. He didn't enjoy the way his father was portrayed as clinically insane in the book the film is based upon. He described the book as "400 pages of rubbish." This forced Hopkins to go to Cannes in an attempt to appease Michael. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: The soundtrack does not match Peter's life chronology. He couldn't listen to Tom Jones's "It's not Unusual" when he met Britt Ekland in 1964 (one year before it was released), Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine" the same year (actually released in 1967) and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" divorcing Britt in 1968 (actually released one year later). more
Quotes:
Peter Sellers: Can't I have your support?
Anne Sellers: You've always had my support. It's my patience that I'm not so sure about.
more
Movie Connections:
References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) more
Soundtrack:
A Well Respected Man more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
59 out of 65 people found the following comment useful.
Rush is mind-blowing... but which Rush?, 20 July 2005
8/10
Author: pyrocitor from Ontario, Canada

Let there be no doubt that Peter Sellers would be an enormously difficult part to play. He has to be one of the few actors in film history who is more complex than the characters he played. (unless one considers actors such as Paul Walker... let me rephrase that, one of the few TALENTED actors) And it would be hard to imagine the man who is still infamously remembered as Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther series being played in as flawless a manor as by Geoffrey Rush here. He wasn't the most obvious choice to play Peter Sellers, but he proved to be the wisest one. The man deserves countless praises, not only for playing Sellers himself to perfection, but also for flawlessly re-creating pretty much every film and radio role Sellers ever played, from Dr. Strangelove to Chance the gardener to Clouseau himself. (beginning in a hilarious sequence on an airplane when Sellers hassles an airline stewardess in Clouseau character) But it doesn't stop there - all throughout his life (or at least so shown here) Sellers struggled with the notion that despite the rampant personalities of his screen personas, Peter the man never really had much of a personality himself. To show this, Sellers reenacts sequences of his real life with himself playing different characters. It is in these delusional sequences that Rush shows his true mastery - he doesn't give us "Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers' mother", he gives us "Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers as Peter Sellers' mother". Words can't describe the amount of recognition Geoffrey Rush deserves, and a solitary Golden Globe simply doesn't do him justice.

Despite the fact that virtually the whole show centers around Rush and his masterful performance, he is backed up by a strong supporting cast and crew. Director Stephen Hopkins was also an odd choice for the project, given his past credentials ("Lost in Space"? "Predator 2"?)but he proves to have the cheeky sense of humour the film needed to be taken seriously, starting off with a surreal 60's style animation sequence with Sellers showing clips from his own life. And it's nice to see some higher profile actors taking the back seat here, such as Charlize Theron, delightfully ditzy and yet not quite a parody as Sellers' airheaded second wife Britt Eckland. Emily Watson brings class and understated strength to her role as Ann, Sellers' first wife, and, as we are led to believe, the only woman he ever truly loved. (despite the fact he left her and their children to pursue a relationship with Sophia Loren which never happened) Stanley Tucci plays Stanley Kubrick in a brief yet important role during the filming of Dr. Strangelove - his eyes showed what his words could not: how irresponsible and hazardous to he production he perceived Sellers to be. Miriam Margoyles, better known as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter series is formidable as Peter's domineering, manipulative mother, portrayed as the main reason for Sellers' fractured state of reality. And John Lithgow is an excellent Blake Edwards, blending his eternal optimism and energy with a sense of self pride, which he is forced to swallow, asking Sellers to return for numerous Pink Panther sequels. Lithgow, with his obnoxious laugh, is a constant high point throughout the film.

Yet, after the viewing is finished, the watcher feels strangely empty. Sure it looked classy, and it felt classy to watch, so why shouldn't it be classified as a great movie? Perhaps it's because 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' feels more like a series of snapshots, and not like a proper biography. We are presented with WHAT Sellers did in his lifetime, but never really shown WHY. There's an irritating lack of depth, which the viewer fails to notice during the movie, so captivated are we with Rush's wonderful acting. But when we reflect on the film afterwards, we realize that we still don't really know who Peter Sellers is. We know what he did, but not why he did it. This may be an intentional decision on Hopkins' part, because, as we are led to believe, Sellers didn't really understand himself that well. So no one really knew who Peter Sellers was... not even himself. And we should be content with that.

-8/10

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