Robert Benton directed and co-wrote (with Richard Russo) Twilight, a dull neo-noir thriller, starring Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, and James Garner.
Grade: C (*1/2* out of *****)
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At 73, Paul Newman is well cast as aging private detective Harry Ross, an ex-cop working on a case of 17-year-old runaway Mel Ames. He tracks down Mel and sleazy boyfriend Jeff Willis at Mexican resort. During a struggle, Mel accidentally shoots Harry, striking him in the thigh.
The plot picks up two years later, when Harry is living in California in the guest quarters of Mel’s wealthy parents, Jack and Catherine Ames. They are former movie stars, now in the twilight of their careers; Jack is dying of cancer.
One day, Jack asks a favor of Harry: to deliver a package to an address in Los Angeles. It turns out to be the first development in a series of twists and turns in a 20-year-old case involving the disappearance of Catherine’s ex-husband.
When Harry arrives at the address, he encounters Ivar, who has just been fatally shot and shoots at Harry. Harry is detained by police, including former colleague Lt. Verna Hollander. At the police station, he runs into another (now retired) old pal and colleague, Raymond Hope.
Verna and Raymond are both sympathetic, as they had heard rumors that Harry suffered damage to his genitals when shot in Mexico. Harry explains that he was only shot in the thigh.
Harry now acts as an agent for Jack and Catherine, who are being blackmailed by Jeff and his parole officer Gloria Lamar.
Harry is forced to acknowledge that his friends have deceived and manipulated him. In the end, Harry reconciles with Catherine and Jack, and leaves town with Verna.
Newman gives a suitably relaxed performance, and the other cast members are decent too. But they are all trapped in an overfamiliar plot, poorly directed by Benton, with sluggish pacing that calls even greater attention to the disjointed proceedings. What a waste of A-list talent!
The movie signaled the twilight of the screen career of Benton, who would make only two more movies, both rather bad.
The film’s original score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.
Greeted with negative reviews, the movie was a box office bomb, grossing only $15.1 million against its $20 million budget.
Cast
Paul Newman as Harry Ross
Susan Sarandon as Catherine Ames
Gene Hackman as Jack Ames
Reese Witherspoon as Mel Ames
Stockard Channing as Lieutenant Verna Hollander
Giancarlo Esposito as Reuben Escobar
Liev Schreiber as Jeff Willis
Margo Martindale as Gloria ‘Mucho’ Lamar
John Spencer as Captain Phil Egan
M. Emmet Walsh as Lester Ivar
James Garner as Raymond Hope
Clint Howard as EMS Worker
Credits:
Directed by Robert Benton
Written by Benton and Richard Russo
Produced by Scott Rudin
Cinematography Piotr Sobocinski
Edited by Carol Littleton
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by Paramount
Release date: March 6, 1998
Running time: 94 minutes
Budget $20 million
Box office $15.1 million
