Flawless

Rating:
Summary: A Humanitarian Message Delivered with Great Style and Humor
Review: This film is a fine blend of superior acting and great humor about subject matter that could, in less capable hands, be tragic or worse yet, maudlin. Joel Schumacher, director of *St. Elmo's Fire* and *Batman and Robin*, among others, does a really excellent job here. Nothing needs to be said about the skills of veteran actor Robert DeNiro. Philip Seymour Hoffman, a young actor who has rightfully come into his own in the past decade, gives one of his best and most insightful performances.

DeNiro is Walter, a decorated hero of the NYPD, who suffers a stroke that affects him emotionally as well as physically. His doctor suggests singing lessons to help him improve his speech. Rather than be seen in public any more than necessary, Walter asks Rusty (Hoffman), another tenant in his apartment building who coordinates a drag queen stage show, to give him the lessons. The fun begins immediately, as these two have had a mutual dislike for each other from their earliest encounters.

Critics have said, among other things, that: (1) the dialogue between Rusty and Walter is cliche-ridden and (2) the film seems to say that all gay men in NYC are either drag queens or "log cabin Republicans." Rubbish! Walter's comments to Rusty at the beginning of their relationship are the usual things you would expect to hear from a homophobic male. Rusty's comebacks are as often as not laugh-out-loud funny, as well as very wise, and they definitely show his strength of character.

As for the alleged limited depiction of the NYC male homosexual population, it is really a matter of "birds of a feather flock together." The movie doesn't pretend to give an overall view of the gay/lesbian population in NY or anywhere else. Rusty and his friends spend a lot of time rehearsing their nightly stage show, giving the show, and gathering with their friends at favorite drag queen hang-outs--probably perfectly typical behavior for this specialized population group. And it is clear in the one confrontation between Rusty's gang and the "button down" gay Republicans that the latter group finds the drag queens' appearance and mannerisms unacceptable. Who's to say that others in the city's gay community didn't/don't feel the same way?

It is said that upon his first reading of the script, Hoffman recognized that Rusty wasn't really gay, but a transexual--a woman trapped in a man's body--a tough concept for either gay or straight people to grasp. Though "straight" himself, Hoffman benefitted from the character coaching of the real drag queen celebrities who took the roles of Rusty's best friends and his partners in producing the night club act. The result is an unforgettable performance in which Rusty proves to be the best person of all to help Walter learn to cope with a body he has come to despise. Rusty, who is making plans to have sex change surgery, knows more than almost anyone else could what it is to be trapped in a body that doesn't fit the person inside it.

The film is alternately deeply moving and uproariously funny as Walter and Rusty come to really understand and bond with one another. There are not many movies that have tackled the idea of a gay man and a straight man becoming true friends. This film handles one possible scenario for that topic in a way that is stylish, uplifting, and unforgettable.

If the story's premise is the tiniest bit contrived, so what? That has been so of a lot of excellent books and movies, and it hasn't hurt the story one bit. It is inherent to fiction that it be a bit contrived. This film leaves you hoping that some day there will be a more enlightened world in which life imitates the art in this film.

Cheers to Schumacher, DeNiro, Hoffman, the rest of the cast, and anyone else who helped this delighful story come into being on film. Forget the critics, be bold, and give this film a viewing. You'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Entertainment With A Difference
Review: This is a story about a homophobic cop (Robert De Niro). He became paralyzed in a shooting and had to seek help by way of speech therapy from the very kind of person he scorned......his homosexual/drag queen/queer neighbor(Philip Seymour Hoffman).It shows the challenges experienced on both sides especially that of the homophobic in arriving at some common ground and mutualy coming to the assistance of each other in tough times. Quite frankly I caught this movie after it had started and did not realise it had a gay theme. If I had......most likely I would not have viewed it. Admittedly though it caught me by suprise when I found it quite entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: An Oscar for De Niro
Review: This movie is not exactly your typical Hollywood factory trash, it's a movie that shows substance. In one flick, to deal with issues such as social decline, racism, gay movements and being handicapped (brilliantly performed by DeNiro), is a true achievement. It's a movie that makes you think, no matter how "anti" anything you may be - it shows you that in the end if you strip away the fassade everybody is just the same: a human being with feelings and needs. Great performance also by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of talent and story
Review: This movie really wants to be touching. It really wants to be compassionate. And it really, really wants you to have emotions for its characters...but it is also very confused with itself. Your basic, nitty-gritty story is fine - a homophobic, middle-aged man has a stroke and is trying to recover and gets help from a homosexual neighbor. Sounds good, I mean what the heck; it'll be the "Driving Miss Daisy" of our lifetime right? Well not exactly...

First, the movie does indeed amp the stereotypes as other reviewers have said. I really don't know how much effeminate, drag queen homosexuals I can take in one movie, but probably about the same amount of apologetic, subservant, unintellegent black people. Also, what was the deal with the homosexual Republicans? Did that whole subplot have any merit to the story development at all? Besides, some other stereotypes, mostly regarding perhaps hispanic or Italians, tend to nearly cross over acceptable boundaries.

Also, there is so much needless conflict in this story that I lose interest half-way, and the rest is just me being forced to watch the characters interact. After so many emotional and charming moments between our two leads, do we really need some UNCHARMING scenes involving pushers and loan sharks attacking their hapless customers? That's like if you put the Predator halfway through "E.T." - movies just don't work that way.

This movie might appease to some (I guess this glancing at the four and five star reviews) but I would suggest renting this first, and only - ONLY - if you're sincerely interested in this at all.

Rating:
Summary: I liked it!
Review: This was a great movie. Phillip Seymore Hoffman is a great actor, and should be a little more recognized in Hollywood. This was a good movie with a good storyline. Robert Deniro suffers a stroke, takes singing lessons from his drag queen neighbor to help his voice to recover. Meanwhile, drug dealers cause trouble around the neighborhood looking for money that was stolen from them. They suspect that either the drag queen or his friends have the money, and (like the review above said) they nearly beat up or harass everyone around them to look for it. Good movie with a good plot, and a good message about friendship. If you can get past the raw language, you'll enjoy this underrated movie. Buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Flawed, (not Flawless) but still a good tale with heart.
Review: To me, the premise of this movie was simple: Pair up two "misfits" who need acceptance, and find this acceptance in each other. And it does work, for the most part.

Robert De Niro is a grumpy, homophobic retired cop who is humbled and mortified after a stroke makes him semi-parilyzed, and slurs his speech. He tries to shut himself off from the world, and from his "old life" as a cop with a heroic past. The other half of this odd teacm is Philip Seymour Hoffman (who gives an AMAZING performance). He plays an overweight drag queen who obviously has a lot of emotional scar tissue from a life full of rejection and heartbreak. He's a wonderful character--full of funny one-liners and a self-depreciating wit. But underneath his sarcastic humor is a lot of raw pain.

The two start out as antagonistic neighbors, until De Niro is "desperate" enough to ask for singing lessons from Hoffman. The singing lessons will help him improve his slurred speech, and Hoffman is an accessable voice teacher--it's just too inconvenient for De Niro to travel any farther in the slippery snow.

So, these two start a tenuous friendship. And we see that they have a lot in common--both feel like rejects. De Niro cannot accept his disability, and feels like his "old" life is over. Hoffman just wants to be accepted, and finds that getting some understanding an acceptance from a person like De Niro is an interesting concept. Both need to be understood as they are *now*. And by the end of the film, they both realize that they can have this acceptance.

There's also a sub-plot involving an evil gangster looking to recover his stolen money, but the main point of the film (in my opinion) is in these two main characters, and their "odd couple" relationship.

The story is a little flawed; I felt something was missing at the end. The sub-plot with the gangsters was OK, but not that compelling. It was needed to move the story's conflict and drama along, but it wasn't as important as the two main characters.

I really enjoyed this film. The performances were wonderful, and I liked its message--that compassion is something that we all need to give, and to receive. And that we all need to stop being so hard on ourselves, and also on others.

Rating:
Summary: Has been done better
Review: Yes, it has been done better, as it was in As Good as It Gets, which is much funnier and probably truer to life. Most of the drag queens in this are plastic characters. Even DeNiro seems plastic. The suspense part of it is seems to have just been thrown in as an excuse for violence and action of a sort. I would say, don't waste your time, see AGAIG, with which you also get the very wonderful Helen Hunt.