Twilight [1997] [DVD]

The story revolves around former P.I. Harry Ross (Paul Newman) attempting to do a favor for Jack Ames (Gene Hackman) that leads to blackmail and murder, and may involve Jack's beautiful wife Catherine Hayward (Susan Sarandon). A twenty year old murder comes into play as well as Harry slips back into a life he left behind when the Ame's spoiled little brat Mel (Reese Witherspoon) brought him some bad luck a few years prior down in Mexico.

Newman is terrific as he reluctantly tries to fix things for everyone as the bodies pile up. It's a task that gets more difficult as he gets closer to the truth. The unspoken attraction between he and Catherine is cause for concern as well in this character driven mystery. Stockard Channing gives a nice performance as Harry's old flame Lt. Verna Hollander, and Reese Witherspoon acquits herself nicely in her first adult (she has a nude scene) film.

Benton has added some humor to this story also, giving it the feel of reality. This film was not designed for the teen driven box office of today but for the rest of us. It has some terrific performances from the entire cast and some true to life moments.

It is James Garner who truly shines though as the old pal of Harry and Jack, Raymond Hope. Garner always makes it look so natural and easy his performance sometimes gets overlooked. He is really great here and the interplay between he and Newman as they discuss growing older and the events taking place are priceless. It may seem clear what happened twenty years ago but it is the relationships that drive this story and the ones that are shattered forever when Harry finally peels away the gray to reveal the black and white.

This is a fine film that subtly shows what can happen to people who become used to having everything work out for them. As Garner's character Raymond tells Harry, "There's them, and there's us, Harry." Benton has crafted an old style film that you won't want to miss if your tired of the teen box office fare. It is a mature and thoughtful mystery and a meditation on friendship and growing older. This one is worth watching.

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Newman plays Harry Ross, one of those guys who has failed at everything in his life from husband and father to cop and private investigator, but is showing some success as a drunk, and who might have stumbled on a last chance for a small measure of redemption. Sent by her movie star parents to retrieve young Mel Ames (Witherspoon) who ran off South of the Border with her boyfriend Jeff Willis (Schreiber), Harry has a slight mishap. Now, several years later, he is living on the Ames estate, where Jack (Hackman) is seriously ill and Catherine (Susan) is swimming nude in the pool. From time to time Harry is given a job to do and thinks nothing of delivering a package until somebody starts shooting at him.

The fact that the gunman already has several bullet holes in him makes things even more interesting, but that is just the start of the complications. The police would be questioning Harry even harder, but old friend Lt. Verna Hollander (Channing) is willing to cut him some slack. So Harry is off, hot on the trail and trying to put all the pieces together. Harry calls Jack his best friend, but he really has more in common with Raymond Hope (Garner), who has lived the life Harry has lived but with much better results. If there is a point where you the film clearly goes off track it is it decides not to pair up Newman with Garner (or any of his other co-stars) and have him spend most time investigating that which needs to be investigated with would be private eye Reuben Escobar (Giancarlo Esposito).

Unfortunately "Twilight" does not have a script as good as the cast and I cannot help thinking that they were sold on acting with each other rather than with the quality of the story. I figured out "who" before I figured out "why" in this mystery, and you really want it to be the other way around when you are watching this kind of a movie (and becomes the reason I rounded down on the 3.5 stars this one deserves). It is a shame that when Newman gets his best scene with one of his co-stars he has to pull a gun and shoot them. Newman is still quite more than a shadow of his former self and the best reason to see the movie, but most fans will be disappointed with the overall quality of this one.

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