Stanley's Gig

After seeing so many Hollywood blockbusters you get drawn in and think that they're great films, with great direction, great acting, great special effects... but then you watch a film like Stanley's Gig, and it snaps you out of it... Bill Sanderson is excellent as a mentally unfit ukulele player, who lands a job as "Recreation Therapist" for an elderly home with the dream of playing on a cruise ship... Stanley (Bill Sanderson) manages a "breakthrough" at work with an old retired jazz singer, Eleanor Whitney (Marla Gibbs) who seems to want to forget her past, he befriends the elderly woman and finds where she once performed and attempts to set-up a gig for her to sing again. This film is an excellent film and deserves more recognition. The Characters are finely detailed and portrayed even better, it's a very free-flowing film despite needing patience to catch on. I can find no faults except with the occasional slow bit during the film, and i would rate it very highly and grab a copy tomorrow!

Please go see this film. It is what movies used to be in the golden age of cinema. Simple, moving, a joy. The performances are award winning. And I heard the movie was done for less then $600,000.00. Wow! The music alone makes this movie worth seeing. A pure film from start to finish.

This was not a great movies. It wasn't even a really good one. But see it, anyway. William Sanderson is a character that you will never forget, and he plays the role with impeccable perfection. Forget about the defects in the film and the other characters who are less than great. Just sit back, with no expectations of anything great, and let Sanderson walk you through a nice but very simple story.

Stanley's Gig is one of the most unexpectedly moving and endearing films in a long while. So unpretentious that you could go right past it, but just stay with it a while and it unfolds in unexpected and marvelous ways. William Sanderson is a barely functional recovering alcoholic ukulele player who stumbles into a job as a musical therapist in an old age home. He so perfectly controls the movie in a quirky, shy way that the movie seems like dropping into a slice of real life.

Marla Gibbs has power and dignity without even speaking and a wonderful speaking and singing voice once she deigns to honor us with words. Faye Dunaway has a compassionate but small supporting role that does her proud.

Stanley's Gig is a gift of an hour and a half that will transform your heart for a while. What a joy to discover such a gem.

William Sanderson is not a name that people immediately recognize, but in this little film, Mr. Sanderson does an outstanding performance that held my attention. So many cliches in this film but so well done that one can readily forgive its predictability. It's not a matter of what is done, but just how well it's done. I looked at this film by chance, but I shall not forget it.