Bravo HBO! Peter Sellers once said, “Everyone knows who Peter Sellers is, except me.” Stephen Hopkins obviously knew who Sellers was, and this film is a testament to the fact. I recommend it not only for the insights it gives us into the life and death of an icon, but also because it is so well crafted and acted. Geoffrey Rush turns in a brilliant portrayal of the multifaceted Sellers, taking on at least a dozen roles in doing so. Wonderful supporting parts are played by John Lithgow as Blake Edwards and the delicious Charlize Theron as Britt Eckland. Sellers’ tumultuous relationships with his mother, director, fellow actors, wives, children and himself are handled skillfully and with respect. Do see it!

The idea behind The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is great in that you can view Sellers’ life through the prism of the many roles that he has played. With acting roles as the framework and with a courageous performance by Geoffrey Rush, it’s a film that’s worth seeing. But while there are some fun technical touches and clever parts where Sellers is playing just about every character that shows up at some point, it starts to sag under the weight of the clever device. Maybe I’d like it more if I hadn’t seen something like Confessions of a Dangerous Mind which is a much more courageous film, but it had the benefit of the story being outlined by the main character himself. With The Life and Death of Peter Sellers it reminded me more of the films it referred to than giving a glimpse into the reasons for the remarkable acting skill of Peter Sellers.