Rating: 
Summary: An underwhelming movie
Review: What a shame to turn such a well constructed story into a very poor movie. All of the nuances and interesting details of the city, the characters and the murder have been lost in this movie. If you are interested in the story, read the book and don't bother with the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Please shoot me now!
Review: I haven't read this book, so I can't make a comparison. I'm willing to bet that it has to be better than the movie. I am a big Kevin Spacey and Jude Law fan so I thought I would rent this...Oh my god! What a terrible movie! No redeeming quality whatsoever, filled with as many cultural stereotypes as you could possibly ever need-awful faux southern accents abound! And we just couldn't live without the sage voodoo lady and the over the top drag-queen that just won't go away. Kevin Spacey was flat, John Cusack was soooooo dull and offered nothing of interest at all in his performance. And of course he had to have a love interest (can't get away without having at least one of those) who, by the way, was useless to the plot and she wins the award for best Scarlet O'Hara accent. Terrible! As puny as Jude's part was-and believe me-I almost fell over dead too when he got shot within the first couple minutes of the movie-he still stood out more than any of the other performances in this horrid thing...no small parts only small actors, right? And his southern accent was better than everybody else's and he's English! Clint Eastwood appears to direct somewhat like he acts...straight and narrow. No surprises.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes me like the South.
Review: Full of wonderful quirky characters. A comedy and a mystery. You'll want to move to Savanah immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Eccentric
Review: What a pleasant surprise to discover that much of what was portrayed in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is essentially true. Sure Clint Eastwood as any director knows all too well, simply had to take some creative license if this fascinating and true story was to translate well to film. He did good. To Mr. Eastwood's credit, not a few of the many characters seen on screen were the real deal as the murder trial of noveau riche antique dealer Jim Williams unfolded. Kevin Spacey as Williams nailed this one, right down to the piercing dark eyes as noted in the best selling book of the same name by John Berendt. As good as Spacey's performance was, this intriguing story is carried along on the strength of an unusual and fact based cast of characters, a few of the minor ones in William's circle actually play themselves including a cameo by William's real life sister. Part of the fun of watching this movie is sorting out the real characters from the actors. John Cusack's role as a writer for an upscale magazine was an understandable, even essential fabrication to tie the events together with some dramatic continuity. How many people noticed Cusack's sister Ann in a brief walk-on appearance? But I digress. One character that stands out, and I mean really stands out is Lady Chablis. If you watch this movie for no other reason, watch it to witness this highly unusual and sometimes hilarious real life personality who as a local entertainer still resided in the Savannah, Georgia area at the time of the DVD release. There had to be little doubt in director Clint Eastwood's mind that Lady Chablis could only be played by the real Lady Chablis. Eastwood's beautiful daughter Alison played a supporting role as love interest to Cusack's writer and this device worked fairly well, though differing from her real life counterpart in some significant ways. Review the informative and interactive DVD and judge for yourself if Eastwood captured the essence of the story. I think he did. Of course the book is more accurate, it has all the time it needs to, but all told Eastwood did a very good job from the director's chair and probably did more to promote tourism to beautiful and historic Savannah than the best efforts of an army of civic boosters.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Movie!!!
Review: Kevin Spacey, as always, gives an outstanding performance. John Cusack is great to look at too but it's Lady Chablis that makes the movie! She's wonderful and brings the comedy effect. Knowing that she played "herself" in this movie made it even better. It's a "must see" movie and I'm sure you'll want to watch it again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific, but needs a little help
Review: --My first impression of the movie was one of sheer delight. I enjoyed it, and could not wait to watch it again, however, once I read the book, I became disappointed with Eastwood's take on the book. There were several turns in the book which I believe could have been portraited accurately. Character's personalities were turned around to where it made him/her to be a better person than they were in actual life. --I believe that Spacey's performance as Jim Williams was remarkable. Alison Eastwood, I believed, should have taken a few more voice lessons before trying to master the southern accent
Rating:
Summary: A twisty and entertaining morality play
Review: Purportedly based on a real story, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has both Kevin Spacey and John Cusack, and a transvestite played by herself. And it was directed by Clint Eastwood. What do you want more now ? Kelso (Cusack) is a writer from New York city, assigned to cover an annual Christmas party thrown by rich antiques dealer Jim Williams (Spacey) in Savannah. Everything is great until Williams is arrested for the murder of one of his employees. Already enthralled by the eccentricity of Savannah, Kelso plunges headlong, helping Williams with his trial in exchange for information so he can write a book. Along the way he meets odd characters, including Lady Chablis, a transvestite, played by herself (as already mentioned). Her role is, in a sense, the binding force of the movie - she is deliciously, well, herself. She's worth the movie alone. All the actors have really come together to make great showings, as we would expect. However, this is marred by a completely unnecessary love story, and a voodoo lady whose sole role is apparently standing on tombstones, saying omnious things, and appearing in unlikely places saying more omnious things. She is also involved in a rather improbable moral which only serves to wrap everything up without rhyme nor reason. Without its voodoo and Hollywood tricks, Midnight is a twisty and entertaining morality play.
Rating:
Summary: read the book instead
Review: The only thing this pale, thin movie has going for it is Kevin Spacey as Jim Wiliams and Lady Chablis playing "herself". All the rest is merely weak imitation. Scenes that weren't in the book are included and scenes that were in the book are left out to the detriment of the movie. Savanah's incredible beauty is not filmed the way it should've been. A lot of the movie has a movie set feel to it. John Cussack is badly miscast and Alison Eastwood's presence was a mistake. I was so frustrated by the whole thing I decided to read the book again.
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of an interesting story, but I didn't really enjoy it.
Review: Kind of an interesting story, but I didn't really enjoy it. Summary:
John Kelso (John Cusack) is a young author who has been hired by Town & Country Magazine to write a piece on Jim Williams' (Kevin Spacey) Christmas party in Savannah, Georgia. When John arrives in Savannah we are introduced to a number of characters including debarred lawyers, voodoo practitioners, and transvestites. John hits it off well with Jim but when Jim ends up killing his lover, Billy Carl Hanson (Jude Law), the intrigue really begins. John decides to help clear Jim if he can write the story as a book. Jim is eventually acquitted but dies from a heart attack caused by the spirit of Billy Hanson, his murdered lover, and John ends up moving to Savannah permanently. My Commentary:
Undoubtedly, my summary doesn't do the story justice, but that's the gist of it. And, so you know, the story is based on a true story. Despite being true, I failed to see the reason why certain scenes in the movie were included when they were seemingly unrelated to the rest of the story. There is one scene in particular when Lady Chablis (Lady Chablis), the transvestite, follows John to a fraternity dinner and embarrasses him. Granted, I thought Lady Chablis was great (it couldn't have been that hard to play herself), but the scene made no sense. Sadly, there are a lot of scenes like that. Also, though Kevin Spacey was great, I didn't particularly enjoy John Cusack. It's probably because I never really enjoy John Cusack, but his portrayal was not memorable. Perhaps the book is better, but I didn't really enjoy this movie all that much. Easily one you could pass up.
Rating:
Summary: "Jewel of the South"....Has Gem of a Story...
Review: This review refers to the Special Edition DVD(WB)...... New York free-lance jouranlist John Kelso(John Cusak) is in Savannah to cover an the elite annual Christmas party thrown by the nouveau-riche John Williams(Kevin Spacey).John is in awe of the splendor,the charms,the opulence, and history of his surroundings. The party takes place in the Mercer House, built by the grandfather of Johnny Mercer.John meets some very colorful characters at the party. They all seem to be living in another world, one that is decadent and oblivious to the rest of the world. John is about to wrap his little essay for "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine, but when the evening ends with a mysterius murder, he stays on and become embroiled in the odd trial that follows. John decides to do a little investigating on his own, as he plans to write a book about the whole sordid affair. Jim Williams is the one on trial for the murder of a belligerent employee(Jude Law). Was he merely an employee though? What was the relationship of these two? During his investigating John encounters an eccentric array of characters, who all become important in some way to the trial. You'll meet Minerva, the voo-doo lady,who uses charms and spells to help Jim, "The Lady Chablis", a transexual who brings her own special charms to the story, and some of the jury members are pretty out there as well.John becomes one with this community as he must do whatever it takes to get this story. So meet him at the cemetary....at Midnight..in the Garden of Good and Evil! Clint Eastwood directs this intriguing story that was based on John Brendt's book of the same name.(Which was based on actual events). Eastwood mixes the mysteriousness of these events, with the wonderful surroundings of Savannah, and adds the music of Johnny Mercer to bring us a rare gem. A film that will have you totally involved with all the characters. The cast also includes, Allison Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis and Jack Thompson. "The Lady Chablis" plays "The Lady Chablis"! And..Uga V the Georgia bulldog actually plays his father Uga IV and does a darn good job!The soundtrack is fabulous, mostly Mercer songs, and the cinematogrpahy is beautiful.Eastwood once again displays his behind the camera talents. The DVD is a great transfer. The picture is crystal clear and colors outstanding even in the nighttime scenes. The surround sound in the Dolby Digital 5.1 is very good. It is presented in widescreen, which enhances all the wonderful scenery of Savannah. Special Features include interviews, production notes,and a theatrical trailer. It may be viewed in English or French and also has subtitles in English, French and Spanish. A terrific mystery, wonderful characters, well directed and a great DVD...enjoy...Laurie
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