Twilight . Newcity Chicago . 03-09-98

Twilight

DIRECTED BY: Robert Benton

REVIEWED: 03-09-98

Hollywood ages badly and does aging badly. But "Twilight" shows an uncommon, if self-serving, sympathy for an elite labor force loosing its edge. Writer-director Robert Benton observes a seasoned quartet of pros--Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, and James Garner--playing pros no longer in top form. Their respective games, as retired private investigator, a screen star he falls for, her terminally ill husband, and a studio cop who does the couple's dirty chores, unravel engagingly in this tasteful noir. Benton and screenwriter Richard Russo plot a tangle of desire and regret with dialogue that occasionally overplays: "I'm curious: what kind of man fucks his dying best friend's wife?" Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski, who shot three Kieslowski features, keeps the title in mind with nearly every lucid frame. Especially eloquent is a conversation that starts in a squintingly dark shadow, then resolves the story's only surviving friendship into a blazing California morning stroll. Elmer Bernstein adds an understated jazz score that suits the film's cardigan-and-slippers demographic.

--Bill Stamets

Full Length Reviews
Twilight
Twilight
Twilight
Twilight

Capsule Reviews
Twilight

Other Films by Robert Benton
Nobody's Fool

Film Vault Suggested Links
Primal Fear
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Laura

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