A firm staple of awards season are industry movies - those that chronicle the making of a beloved classic, or one that offers a behind-the-scenes look at a figure with an extraordinary following. Joining the likes of recent examples such as Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, The Disaster Artist and Trumbo is Stan & Ollie. But where it surpasses previous films is in rising above genre tropes to offer an oddly affecting and deeply romantic look at its subjects, powered by a quartet of terrific star turns.

After a 1930s-set prologue, Stan & Ollie focuses, for the most part, on the time of the comedy duo's careers once the cameras had finished filming. Picking up in the 1950s, when the near-broke stars arrived in the UK for a tour of theatres, hoping that it could be the route for one last bout of cinematic glory. Yet standing in their way is ill health and tension born-out of long gestating issues.

Central to the appeal of this film (in fact, any film that focus on a real-life figure) is its central casting. John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan have gained a well-earned reputation for both their comedic and dramatic talents, and here they are put to good use. They both exemplary in recreating the duo's comedy routines, as well as the slapstick touches that escape to the real word. But where they stand out is in their chemistry, which manages to power the drama to a point where it tugs on the audience's heartstrings. Reilly is perhaps the more successful at recreating Hardy's notable physicality and voice, aided as he is by terrific make-up. But Coogan holds his own, and together they are the film's greatest asset.

It is notable that the film doesn't really spark into life until the arrival of the pair's wives, who themselves make a fun double act. Shirley Henderson is endearingly sweet in her affections, whilst Nina Arianda brings a refreshing sharpness as Laurel's wife. The script has great fun in giving each of them pithy one-liners and witty retorts, and one could easily have watched a film focusing on this duo. Rufus Jones is also tremendous fun as the agent seeing Laurel & Hardy through their tour.

The film is a further triumph on a technical level, marshalled by skilled directing from Jon S. Baird (whose previous film, Filth, is one worth checking out). As well as a sprightly, keenly observed script from Jeff Pope, the attention to period detail is magnificent, allowing audiences to wallow in the world of both 30s Hollywood and 50s Britain. While it feels like this film has been mostly ignored this award season it is heartening to see it receive a nomination for Best Make Up/Hair at this year's BAFTAs.

Stan & Ollie surprised me, managing to surpass other films that focus on the movie industry. Thanks to four fabulous starring roles and a technical prowess that is rather immersive, this is a film that will both cause a chortle and tug on your heartstrings. It is a strangely compelling mix of nostalgia and melancholy that will inspire audiences to seek out some of the works of the subjects at its core.

The magic of movies, the actor James Stewart said, is to create 'moments in time'. Take the films of Laurel and Hardy. Everyone has their favourite bits and some are iconic - a piano hurtling down the steps, Ollie’s tie-twiddle of embarrassment, Stan’s all-finger head-scratch. In the 1950s, the boys – partners more than friends – undertook tours of the UK and Ireland. They traded in magic, the moments in time that theatre audiences paid to see. Stan and Ollie needed the money. But at what cost, personal and professional?

Stan & Ollie is a resolutely British film. Deprecating '50s England’s half-hearted embrace of two screen legends, the tour kicks off in a wet and gloomy Newcastle, the boys checking in to a downbeat, unwelcoming hotel. The theatre-run is hitting the second rank venues, stiffed by their slippery tour manager. But the duo’s dignity is undimmed. With a film deal riding on the tour’s success and with health and money worries looming, it’s an against-the-odds story, both subtle and sublime.

Twenty years before, we see Stan and Ollie at the peak of their popularity. They’re about to film the iconic dance sequence from Way Out West. A brilliant tracking shot follows the boys from their dressing room through the Hollywood back lot to the soundstage. They’re men at the heart of the game. John C Reilly as Ollie and Steve Coogan as Stan are Laurel and Hardy. In their walk and their talk, they’re the men themselves. As Coogan, seen from the back, begins to sway to the music – Laurel the savvy artist segues into the silly Stan we all know, a thrilling transformation.

Stan & Ollie is a fabulous film, funny, poignant and at one point grippingly tense. You’d expect the boys to be funny and they are: Stan bemuses a sassy secretary with a deft hat routine. Arriving at a hotel, in which they mock-battle as to who’ll ring the reception bell; a double-door gag, made up for the movie, in which the boys continually miss each other, is pure Laurel and Hardy. But best of all is the arrival of ‘the wives’. In most Laurel and Hardy pictures that spells disaster for the duo. But in Stan & Ollie it’s an impetus to even greater comedy and pathos. Thanks in large part to Nina Arianda’s note-perfect turn as Stan’s fourth wife Ida Kitaeva, spitting out put-downs to anyone who disses Stan, and bigging herself up as a former starlet.

Shirley Henderson is a quiet foil for both Hardy – as his wife Lucille – and Ida. 'Two double acts for the price of one' quips the tour manager nipped by Ida’s waspish tone. But the biggest gong goes to Reilly’s Oliver Hardy. Aided by staggeringly seamless latex, better even than Gary Oldman’s in Darkest Hour, Reilly’s performance is outstanding: catching the lilting southern inflections of Hardy’s voice ('Hard boiled eggs and nuts – hm!'), Reilly nails Ollie’s physical comedy and his real-life reasonableness, as when the driven Stan pushes him too far.

Coogan has the hardest role: with only minimal make-up, Coogan has to bring to life a person no one ever really saw. Stan was the brains behind the partnership, wrote the sketches, did the business deals. Behind the gurning smile lay a steel trap of a mind. And Coogan captures the essence of an endearing but difficult man.

Beautifully creating the sense of 50s Britain, cleverly re-using the visiting scene from County Hospital both on stage and in a touching parallel in a hotel room, Stan & Ollie brings a fresh perspective on a little-known period of Laurel and Hardy’s career. Crowned with a quartet of performances – the men and their wives – and with a lyrical, unobtrusive score by Rolfe Kent, it’s a film that stays with you, creating its own moments in time.