Twilight

Rating:
Summary: The actors made the movie
Review: Quite obviously, the cast made the movie. The story was quite appealing to me because it actually had depth to it. I am a die hard fan of Sarandon, so... Of course I'll state the obvious on her ability to grow into the character. Now, the rest of the cast fit in perfectly like pieces of a puzzle. They were absolutely great. I don't care what anyone else says, this movie should have received much more attention than it got when the movie entered the theatres.

Rating:
Summary: four stars
Review: there is good chemistry between mr Newman MS Sarandon good chemistry works every time .

Rating:
Summary: Little seen, under-rated thriller
Review: This boxoffice failure is actually quite a good mystery thriller. I'd say it was doomed to fail for a number of reasons. Considering the median age of the principle players, the title "Twilight" may have given it an unintended negative connotation. It was oddly refreshing to see that the veteran cast and its director, Robert Benton, can make an R rated film with as much gusto as the younger generation. Still, young filmgoers are often turned off by movies starring anyone older than Leonardo DiCaprio, who is 22. Older audiences may have been unprepared for its graphic nature.

Also, this type of picture is no longer vogue. While it is suspenseful and deals in a mystery, the subplot is the subject of how people handle their emotions when caught in a moral dilemma. Such kinds of films have been popular off and on since Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" [1943]. That's the classic in which poor, dimwitted insurance salesman Fred McMurray is seduced by the inimitable Barbara Stanwyck into killing her husband for the life insurance policy McMurray sold him. His infatuation with Stanwyck does not prevent him from knowing that his actions are totally immoral.

Paul Newman plays a down on his luck private eye who is shot in the leg while retrieving a runaway, underaged daughter from a Caribbean island. As a result, he is invited to live on the estate of the girl's parents, two over the hill movie stars played by Susan Saradon and Gene Hackman.

For the first couple of years he is there, things run fairly well. He becomes a close friend to both stars. Of course, his relationship with the daughter is pretty chilly. Even though it was an accident, she was the who shot him.

Then, certain things happen which are cause for alarm. As the events unfold, Sarandon and Hackman begin to appear in a different light. Did they really do what we begin to suspect they did? If so, are they truly that evil? How does Newman react when the goings on involve his best friends, people who have been extraordinarily gracious and helpful towards him?

I was fascinated when I watched the interaction between these and other characters. Between them, the three stars have made 199 movies. They can tell us more in a shifting of the eyes or a slight change in facial expression than stars in training can do in two minutes of screen time. By in training, I mean that, at the very beginning of their careers, these three were no different from the newest stars of today.

Robert Benton is an extraordinary writer and director. As I have stated before, producer Scott Rudin has an exceptional pattern of alternating between small films like this one and big budget ones. The one he produced right after this one was "The Truman Show".

Since this is such and extraordinary cast, with an equally brilliant director, I made a list of some of their best movies:

ROBERT BENTON [wrote and/or directed] - Places in the Heart [1984], Kramer vs. Kramer [1979], What's up, Doc? [1972], The Late Show [1977], Bonnie and Clyde [1967].

PAUL NEWMAN - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge [1990], The Color of Money [1986], The Sting [1973], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969], Cool Hand Luke [1967], Hud [1963], The Hustler [1962].

SUSAN SARANDON - Bob Roberts [1992], Thelma and Louise [1991], White Palace [1991], Bull Durham [1988], The Witches of Eastwick [1987].

GENE HACKMAN - Get Shorty [1995], Crimson Tide [1995], Unforgiven [1992], No Way Out [1987], Reds [1981], The Conversation [1974], The French Connection [1971].

Rating:
Summary: Old Style detective story
Review: This is a return to the old style detective story of the 40s and 50s. Paul Newman is a down-and-out ex-police officer/ex-private investigator who is asked by his best friend to delivery a package for him. What ensues is a fairly predictable but none-the-less fun movie.

Rating:
Summary: So old it's new
Review: This is by no way a great, exiting movie. What it is , is a slow, effective, moody, character study that is so old fashioned that its refreshing. If the general public is not interested in this film, then those interested in the noir genre will be. But most of all it is a pleasure to see Newman at the top of his form.

Rating:
Summary: more like 2 1/2 stars
Review: This is like a "Barnaby Jones" episode, with a scene showing Reese Witherspoon's boobies tacked on(Thus the half-a-star bump). This scene will make viagra unnecessary for this movie's core demographic, on the day they view this movie.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie
Review: Twilight is a very good who done it. This movie has a very strong cast with a storyline that keeps you guessing. Paul Newman is his ususal tough guy self and puts in a good effort. You also get a treat in the very begening with Reese Witherspoon showing some skin right off the bat.

Rating:
Summary: Literate and intelligent
Review: Twilight is basically a tribute to Ross MacDonald, with Newman playing an older version of the world weary private eye he portrayed in The Drowning Pool. But the script is literate and intelligent, the direction is laudably straightforward, and the cast -- Newman, Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, James Garner, Stockard Channing, Liev Schrieber -- is to die for.

Despite the star power on display, Garner steals the movie with a wonderfully understated performance. His last scene with Newman is heart-breaking, and Garner brings to it a dignity that matches Newman's own.

Not the most action-packed thriller of the last few years, but one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: Twilight glows all night long
Review: Twilight is like an NBC Sunday Night TV B-movie with marquee, A-list stars. Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Stockard Channing, Reese Witherspoon and James Garner to name a few, not to mention the collaboration of Robert Benton and Richard Russo (who brought Newman's '94 Oscar-nominated Nobody's Fool to screen).

Twilight not only has a sensational cast of screen legends and actors in the making, although Witherspoon's performance is not all that grand (despite a nude scene), still desplays a rich, character-driven murder mystery that keeps you intrigued until the end. Twilight is by no means a flawless movie--it's finale is all-too-convenient, Sarandon's material-possession battery scene is hokey, etc. But the old-fashioned feeling the film gives is astounding, one in which Bogart himself indeed would feel right at home with. It allows the viewer with such a dialogue that you don't see often anymore, for example the difference between what famous quote came from whom and self-correction. Newman's character is charming on paper but even at seventy-five the man brings the words to utter charm, for example a scene between Sarandon and him.

Sarandon: Harry, a lot of women wear Bal A Versailles!

Newman: Yeah, but it smells different on them.

If you are a fan of any of the film's lead stars or are in the mood for an old-fashioned movie, this is a can't miss. But if you are looking for edge-of-your-seat suspense, explosions and lots of shoot-outs, you had better buy "Heat" or "One True Thing." The film's DVD kind-of blows, but the preview is nice and the non-anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer is surprisingly good.

Rating:
Summary: Paul Newman carries it
Review: Usually, my guess as to how a film ends is wrong. But viewing the detective flick TWILIGHT, I was correct in solving the mystery.

TWILIGHT deserves credit for trying. Director Robert Benton succeeds in creating a 1940s-style feel in what is a modern who-done-it. Unfortunately, the film's awkward pacing occasionally rattles that mood.

You would expect TWILIGHT's climactic moment, where our hero private eye unravels the mystery, to be exciting. Instead, the film ho-hums into the conclusion.

Further distraction: lingering female nudity, namely Reese Witherspoon and what appears to be a body double for Susan Sarandon. Sorry, I just can't pay attention to the story with a fetching lass such as Ms. Witherspoon romping around topless. (Ms. Sarandon sure has done her share of nude scenes without a body double, though. In her 1970 debut movie, JOE, she was completely undressed within two minutes of her first scene. She's worked hard for the money ever since.)

Then there's Paul Newman and James Garner playing retired cops who moonlight as private detectives. If you read the TWILIGHT script, you would expect men in their 50s in the role. But Misters Newman and Garner look their 70 years of age.

Nonetheless, lead actor Paul Newman carries TWILIGHT. His famous blue eyes and soft-spoken demeanor command attention. Actress Stockard Channing, strong in a small supporting role, also helps you forget some of TWILIGHT's flaws.

I'd rather recommend TWILIGHT for its effort than knock it for its shortcomings.