Find Movies & TV
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
Explore
Movies & TV Shows
Most Popular
Leaving Soon
Categories
Action
Animation
Comedy
Crime
Descriptive Audio
Documentary
Drama
En Español
Horror
Music
Romance
Sci-Fi
Thriller
Western
Explore
Browse Channels
Featured Channels
CW Forever
Ion Mystery
LiveNOW from FOX
Categories
Hit TV
Drama TV
True Crime
Reality
News
Sports
Game Shows
History & Science
Comedy
Daytime TV
Movies
Sci-Fi & Action
Chills & Thrills
Classic TV
Food & Home
Black Entertainment
Kids & Family
Lifestyle
Music
Nature & Travel
Anime & Gaming
En Español
International
Sign In
Being There
Directed by
Hal Ashby
PG
1979
2h 10m
Comedy
,
Drama
7.9
95%
92%
Add to Watchlist
After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
More
Where to Watch Being There
Amazon Video
Buy $9.99
Rent $3.99
Apple TV
Buy $9.99
Rent $3.99
Fandango At Home
Buy $9.99
Rent $3.99
+3 more
Cast of Being There
Peter Sellers
Chance
Shirley MacLaine
Eve Rand
Melvyn Douglas
Benjamin Rand
Jack Warden
President 'Bobby'
Richard Dysart
Dr. Robert Allenby
Richard Basehart
Vladimir Skrapinov
Ruth Attaway
Louise
David Clennon
Thomas Franklin
Fran Brill
Sally Hayes
Denise DuBarry
Johanna Franklin
Alice Hirson
First Lady
Jerome Hellman
Gary Burns
John Harkins
Sidney Courtney
James Noble
Kaufman
Mitch Kreindel
Dennis Watson
Oteil Burbridge
Lolo
Richard Venture
Wilson
Sam Weisman
Colson
Elya Baskin
Karpatov
Hal Ashby
Man at File Cabinet at the Washington Post (uncredited)
Kenneth Patterson
Perkins
Stanley Grover
Baldwin
Being There Ratings & Reviews
Desmond Dale
4d ago
The writing is so nuanced and full of layers that unfold like a life mantra hidden in the margins of a comic strip. Peter Sellers is magical, playing a character who appears naive and dumb and yet possesses a youthful optimistic worldview. He seems to have retained a sense of wonder and amazement that most lose in the transition to adulthood. The writing is so tight that at times you can't tell if maybe the character is actually aware of his genius or if he's simply the world's greatest dunce. And it's unafraid to utilize its folklorish character to poke fun at racism, classism and the injustices that come from living in such an oligarchy. And as a result it comes away feeling both sentimental and upbeat and socially aware.
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Satire is a threatened species in American film, and when it does occur, it's usually broad and slapstick, as in the Mel Brooks films. Being There, directed by Hal Ashby, is a rare and subtle bird that finds its tone and stays with it.
From the Front Row
Mattie Lucas
Closed out the 1970's with a knowing smile, mourning that which was to come, and celebrating an unassuming antidote to the decade's increasing sense of materialism and political polarization.
Gone With The Twins
Mike Massie
The humor continues to surface, regularly generating laugh-out-loud bewilderment and crushing awkwardness.
Slant Magazine
Eric Henderson
Ground Zero for the cult of Sellers.
Deep Focus Review
Brian Eggert
Among the sharpest of all satires, Being There, released in 1979, would be the last great film made by director Hal Ashby, who had the most extraordinary track record of any filmmaker of the 1970s.
Epoch Times
Michael Clark
Devoid of finger-wagging, bellicose tirades, or emotional manipulation, Being There is a scathing commentary on politics and the media that points out how patently easy is it to fool people, often with their own willful, enthusiastic participation.
TIME Magazine
Frank Rich
Here is a comedy that valiantly defies both gravity and the latest Hollywood fashion.
The Hollywood Reporter
Ron Pennington
Sellers has never been better and he embellishes the detached, childlike innocence of this character with perfect style and timing. It's a deceptively simple performance, but it is essentially the core and substance of the film.
Apollo Guide
Brian Webster
If you are going to see only one Peter Sellers movie, see Dr. Strangelove, but if you're going to see two, then Being There also belongs on your must-see list.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Joe Pollack
Under the direction of Hal Ashby, in his first film since Coming Home, Sellers gives an impressively disciplined performance, always taut and under control. The difficulty with the film, however, is that the screenplay is basically a one-joke story.
Chicago Reader
Dave Kehr
No one seems to know what to do with the allegorical undertone of Jerzy Kosinski's script, but as a whole this 1979 film maintains a fine level of wit, sophistication, and insight.
Common Sense Media
Kelly Kessler
Amazingly poignant performance by Peter Sellers.
Film Freak Central
Walter Chaw
a product not of Ashby's essential modesty but of Kosinski's essential egoism.
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Peter Sellers gives a stellar performance.
New York Times
Janet Maslin
Hal Ashby directs Being There at an unruffled, elegant pace, the better to let Mr. Sellers's double-edged mannerisms make their full impression upon the audience.
Boston Globe
Michael Blowen
A brutal look at America and Americans that gently lifts up the mirror image that television gives us of ourselves, smashes it on the marble floors of our political institutions and holds a chunk of jagged glass to our throats. And then makes us laugh.
Berkeley Barb
Barbara Brecher
One of the rare cases in which a novel is translated into a film with its humor, insight, and pathos intact.
LarsenOnFilm
Josh Larsen
Sellers is funny in every moment; you just have to watch very closely.
Variety
Variety Staff
A highly unusual and an unusually fine film.
Watch Being There Videos
Being There
Being There
Trailer
Take Plex everywhere
Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
