Being There: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''As long as the roots are not severed, all is well, and all will be well, in the garden.''}}

 

 

Chance, the Gardener is a middle-aged, mentally-challenged man who has never been outside of the elegant townhouse he lives in, by orders of its owner "The Old Man". He has only two pastimes in life: gardening and watching television. Not long after the story opens the Old Man is discovered dead. In the aftermath Chance is told by the lawyers who have come to close the house - and who have no record of a gardener employed there, much less living there - that he must leave. Thus, he packs a suitcase of clothes (all hand-me-downs from the Old Man) and his remote control and heads out into the world. Soon enough, he is accidentally struck by a limousine and his leg is injured. The passenger, Eve Rand, happens to be the wife of an elderly, dying financial titan, Ben; since his mansion is now partially set up as a hospital, she invites Chance to recover there. On the ride over, she mishears his name as "Chauncey Gardiner". Though honest by nature, he doesn't realize she's making a mistake, and things snowball from there. Both Eve and Ben take a shine to this ruined businessman (well, that's what they think he is - he has such nice clothes, and is so polite), and the latter introduces him to the President of the United States. When asked him what he thinks of the current economic climate, Chance - confused and grasping at the word "growth" -- replies with the quote above. Both men are impressed, and soon Chauncey Gardiner has become one of the most powerful people in America, if not the world...

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Roger Ebert Great Movies List]]

[[Category:Films of the 1970s]]

[[Category:National Film Registry]]

[[Category:The Criterion Collection]]

[[Category:Academy Award]]

[[Category:Independent Films]]