Twilight (1998)

Twilight (1998): Dir: Robert Benton / Cast: Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, James Garner, Susan Sarandon, Reese Witherspoon: Paul Newman plays a retired detective who tracks down an actor's daughter. Couple years later he is staying with the cancer burdened actor and his manipulating wife. Soon he is involved in a mystery of murder, blackmail and incidents of the past. Interesting setup has loopholes when factoring ages of particular characters. Director Robert Benton does a superb job. Principal actors are on target including Newman whose career is hindered after a gun shot wound. Now he ventures into territory that is forbidden and dangerous. Gene Hackman plays his friend with cancer who sets up the investigation by hiring Newman only to discover things that he wished he hadn't. Susan Sarandon plays the seductive wife who tempts Newman and toys with the mystery. James Garner also appears in the investigation and although the role isn't as broad as it should be, it is pivotal. Reese Witherspoon is featured as the teenager whom Newman is assigned to locate. Convincing her go go along results in a leg injury and a lot of cynicism. The purpose is to recapture the feeling of old film noir and it rightfully claims this through superb veteran actors who are well into their twilight years. Fine plot twists carry it into the limelight while the narrative heads for a dark tunnel. Score: 9 / 10

The cast is the first thing that struck me, prior to watching this best-of-the-B-movies almost-film-noir. They're stars, and they all deliver star performances. Hackman especially is, as always, amazing. Even James Garner does a good job.I don't think I'm spoiling anything to say that there are no big surprises, and only a very few little ones, in this movie. It's not quite a film noir, a little bit too much humor for that, but I think it's worth the trade-off. As a small bit of icing on the cake, it's interesting to see Liev Schreiber as a young punk, after seeing him as an older, much more dangerous Ray Donovan.All in all, nothing great beyond the cast, but a good entertainment.

Newman, in a role similar to "Harper," is a has-been private detective living with and helping out aging movie actors Hackman and Sarandon. The script is rather convoluted and ultimately less than satisfying. However, it is a pleasure to watch old pros like Newman, Hackman, and Garner, each about seventy at the time of this film. Comparatively, Sarandon and Channing are spry young things in their fifties. The impressive cast also features up-and-coming stars like Witherspoon and Schreiber. Benton, who co-wrote the script, creates a nice atmosphere, aided by one of Bernstein's last scores. Given such an assemblage of talent, the film is a disappointment.

Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Stockard Channing and James Garner star in "Twilight," a 1998 film directed by Robert Benton, who co-wrote the script. Newman plays Harry Ross, an ex-cop turned P.I. who is staying with friends, a movie star Catherine Ames (Sarandon) and her dying actor husband Jack (Hackman). At one time, he retrieved their 17-year-old daughter (Reese Witherspoon) from a tryst in Mexico.Catherine was married before, to an actor named Billy, who has long believed to have been lost at sea. There have always been rumblings, however, that Billy was murdered. When Jack asks Harry to deliver an envelope to a woman named Gloria Lamar, Harry suspects blackmail. He gets more than he bargained for."Twilight" has the noirish feel of a '40s film, right down to the Channing character being named Verna. The name Gloria Lamar is certainly an homage to the '40s as well. It also has three actors inextricably linked with PIs - Newman, Hackman, and Garner.With all of that, the low key "Twilight" is really style over substance. Its pace is lethargic, and the director seemed more interested in setting up striking images - such as Sarandon kneeling on the ground at her ranch, Newman watching Garner in a mirror, etc., than the actual story. The story lacks urgency.All of the acting is very good, with Newman at 73 still handsome, still sexy, and still able to play a tough guy.Worth seeing for the cast and atmosphere.