A decade before the release of the teenage vampire sensation
"Twilight" in 2008, there was another film with the same title that
couldn't be more different in tone and style. While the horror flick
helped launch the careers of up-and-coming actors, the 1998 film was
gently acknowledging that its already legendary stars were coming to the
end of theirs. This is evidenced by the title, which has a dual
meaning: the time of day as well as the stage of life its central
characters find themselves in. "Twilight" was written and directed by
Robert Benton and stars Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman and
James Garner. Benton and Newman had found considerable acclaim and
success with their previous collaboration, "Nobody's Fool", but
"Twilight" received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the boxoffice.
Therefore, there's probably a good chance you never saw it. The failure
of movie is puzzling, given the public's affection for the film noir
genre. Purists may argue that true film noir requires that a movie be
made on a modest budget and shot in black and white. "Twilight" doesn't
apply to either of these rules. It has a high-priced cast and gorgeous
color cinematography by Piotr Sobocinski, but in many ways it evokes the
very best of the noir genre, in a way that director Dick Richards' 1975
detective flick "Farewell My Lovely" also succeeded in doing. It has
all the central elements: the protagonist is a down-and-out private eye
(are there any other kind in noir films?), a deceptive man who sends
him out on a mission to make some fast money, a sultry femme fatale and
an abundance of supporting characters who are as eccentric as they are
threatening. Oh, and most of the action takes place in the dead of
night.
The film is set in contemporary L.A. Newman plays Harry Ross, a
one-time cop who was fired for alcoholism, an affliction that saw his
career as a private dick also fail. In the process, he lost his wife and
kids and remains alienated from them. Harry survives due to the
generosity of his benefactors, old friend Jack Ames (Gene Hackman) and
his wife Catherine (Susan Sarandon), both of whom were once prominent
and popular actors whose careers and finances are on a downward trend.
Harry is allowed to live rent-free at their lavish home, where he earns a
few bucks here and there by acting as a Man Friday for Jack, running
errands for him that often involve people of dubious backgrounds. Jack
has just learned that his cancer has been determined to be terminal and
he's given about six months to live. He takes it in stride but resents
having to spend much of his time in bed. Catherine seems to be devoted
to him but even Jack knows that she and Harry have long had eyes for
each other. Also sharing the residence is Jack and Catherine's
precocious teenage daughter Mel (Reese Witherspoon), who Harry had to to
fly to Mexico to retrieve from the arms of an older paramour, Jeff
Willis (Liev Schrieiber), who accidentally shot Harry in the leg during
an altercation. Now Jack has another mission for Harry; a seemingly easy
one: deliver an envelope stuffed with money to a man named Lester Ivar
(M. Emmett Walsh) with no questions asked. Needless to say, things go
awry from the start and Harry finds himself being shot at, beaten up and
framed for murder, all due to a blackmail plot against Jack and
Catherine, who were long suspected of murdering her first husband so
they could be together. As with any noir or noir-like film, it doesn't
pay to go into much detail about the plot, as it would compromise all
the twists and turns in Robert Benton's screenplay, which, in true genre
form, is complex but thoroughly compelling.
"Twilight" is the kind of film that celebrates the kinds of
characters that existed in crime movies of the 1940s and 1950s. Everyone
speaks the same lingo, dishing out insults and wisecracks with abandon.
It's also the kind of film where a cuckolded husband learns his best friend
has been sleeping with his wife and deals with it by simply telling him
to knock it off. In today's increasingly sanitized world of filmmaking, it's refreshing to revisit an era in which hard-bitten characters are unapologetic about drinking and smoking without restraint. The performances are uniformly excellent, with Newman
at age 73 displaying the same cynical wit that made "Harper" such a
pleasure to watch. He's also still drop-dead handsome, even though his
character acknowledges his advanced years. (A running gag in the film is
that Harry is unaware that the rumor mill has it that his "pecker had
been shot off" in the incident in Mexico.) Sarandon burns up the screen
as the diva-like object of both Harry and Jack's affections and Reese
Witherspoon displays the talents that would see her rise to stardom.
Hackman is very good, but his screen time is limited, though the
dialogue he shares with Newman is terrific. There's also a standout turn
in a supporting role by James Garner, as a friend of both men who is a
retired cop who serves as a "Mr. Fix-It" on the L.A. crime scene. There
is also an excellent performance by Stockard Channing as a
tough-as-nails LAPD lieutenant and former flame of Harry's. Liev
Schrieber and Margo Martindale fill out the ranks as a team of murderous
blackmailers who are as eccentric as any characters to be found in an
old John Huston movie and there is an amusing turn by Giancarlo Esposito
as an aspiring private eye who idolizes Harry. The film is also
complimented by an impressive score by the legendary Elmer Bernstein. The critical and boxoffice failure of "Twilight" shouldn't distract
from the fact that this is a first-rate detective film well worth
checking out.
After being out-of-print on home video in the U.S. for a number of years, Kino Lorber has released an impressive new Blu-ray edition with a marvelous transfer. Best of all is the commentary track by film noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini. If you were ignorant about the genre before listening to them, you won't be by the time the track is over. According to them, "Twilight" technically qualifies as a "neo-noir" film because it is set in the modern era. However, Silver argues that the movie possesses so many traditional elements of the genre that it should probably be regarded as an example of classic noir. Indeed, director Benton seems to realize that shooting anything in L.A. at night gives a film a noirish element and Benton doesn't need obvious gimmicks to remind the viewer of this fact. In all, the KL edition is a "must-have" if you appreciate films of this type. As an additional bonus, there are original trailers and TV spots for this movie along with other titles available through KL. Highly recommended.