Top 100 #91: Being There

91. Being There



A simple, timid man who comes off as ponderous and complex. Not only because of his metaphors, but the way he is dressed. Only Peter Sellers could have pulled off such a performance. It takes on an almost Coen-esque point of view in terms of a simple man falling into extroardinary circumstances by chance (no pun intended). Chauncy Gardener is a character of such peculiar engineering that he demanded a film and just the right actor to play him. Hal Ashby found that film and Peter Sellers found that character.