Twilight (1998)
Starring: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, M. Emmet Walsh, Jason Clarke, Clint Howard
Directed by: Robert Benton
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Mystery
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A retired private detective (Paul Newman) is asked to do a favor by his dying friend (Gene Hackman). What starts out as a simple task soon embroils him in a murder that threatens to unravel decades of deadly secrets.

Review:

Tim: I'm a little surprised that I didn't enjoy Twilight more. This film features a truly remarkable cast, most of whom give solid performances. It's a twisting detective story that tackles some mature themes. There was every reason for this movie to be hugely entertaining. However, it doesn't quite come together. The film is always fine, it's never outright boring. Unfortunately, the movie never grabs our attention to the extent needed. The characters aren't quite compelling enough. This is a perfectly fine mystery, but you can't help but feel the total is less than the sum of its parts.

I do want to spend some time on the cast, because it's the biggest reason to see the movie. The great Paul Newman is in the lead role. While this isn't close to his best performance, it's still a worthwhile role. He plays this world weary former private detective well. He has morals and a sense of right and wrong, but he's a complicated character as well. The script never makes his character as memorable as he needed to be, but we generally like him and find it fairly easy to root for him. Susan Sarandon adds a strong supporting performance. She interacted well with Newman and might have been slightly more memorable as a character. It's a good performance. Gene Hackman is great in a smaller supporting role. He is an excellent actor and he greatly added to the film in his limited screen time. He definitely makes an outsized contribution based on his screen time. I loved seeing Reese Witherspoon in her small role here. I wouldn't say she gives a great performance, but she contributes to the film. The cast is so good that talent like Stockard Channing, James Garner, and Margo Martindale have small supporting roles. They each add to the film in big ways, though. It was great fun to see Liev Screiber and Giancarlo Esposito in their roles. I was surprised that M. Emmet Walsh had such a small role. It was still great to see him. As a whole, this is one of the most impressive casts I've seen. I just wish the script was a little better.

The story itself is fine. It sets up a large cast of different characters. There's a central mystery at play, but it feels like it takes a long time for this to all come together. Newman's character is at work to figure out what is happening, but it feels like he (and us) are in the dark for far too long. Eventually, we get a sense of the size and scale of the mystery, but it takes a really long time for it all to come together. Before that point, we've spent most of the movie getting small pieces of the puzzle with no concept of the overall picture. I believe this is a major flaw of the script. We're supposed to be pleased with the pieces we get, but it's hard to feel any sense of satisfaction when we're so uncertain about what the overall story is about. It doesn't give us a sense of momentum or forward progress. It just feels like we're meandering forward and have to trust that it'll all make sense eventually. I can't say I ever loved the characters or felt an especially strong curiosity to see how the mystery would wrap up. I wasn't completely disengaged, but it wasn't at the level it needed to be.

I'd probably still recommend Twilight if someone asked, but this isn't the kind of movie you'd go out of your way to suggest. I would certainly temper expectations. It's a decent mystery, but the remarkable cast really stands out. It's fairly disappointing that the quality of the film doesn't align with the talent of the cast. Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Verdict, Absence of Malice